Kimi Kim is a fresh talent from Central Saint Martins whose work explores emotions like fear and oppression. She studied fashion in Korea before moving to London to study design at CSM, where she found herself in a culturally rich environment that encourages independent thinking and bold creativity.

Tell us about your graduation collection Blind Faith

My graduation collection, Blind Faith, was inspired by the inner doubts and conflicts I experienced growing up under strict Christian education. The work explores the theme of blind belief and the uncertainty that comes with it. I look at the illusions of religion—how people create ideals or refuges of comfort to escape from fear and suffering. Through this project, I wanted to question whether these beliefs are illusions without substance, and to suggest that the truth we seek in faith is never absolute.

As a designer, I begin with uncomfortable emotions and transform them into images that are both beautiful and uncanny. I draw energy from translating invisible feelings into form and textile. My work often deals with themes such as fear, oppression, and blind faith, which are closely tied to my background. My Korean name means “grace,” and I grew up in a Christian family in Korea. That cultural and religious background has always been the starting point for my concepts.

Kimi Kim //Graduation Collection “Blind Faith”

Where do those emotions come from in your life and how do they find their way into your work?

I think these emotions started within my home and then extended outward into society. I was born into a Christian family and lived as a believer until I was twenty. But at some point, I began to wonder, why must it be this way? When I started reading Nietzsche’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra (though I cannot say I understood everything), I began to question the existence of faith and God. I wanted to truly understand the being I was supposed to believe in, and that search brought me uncomfortable emotions.

Within my parents’ strong conviction and persuasion, I realized that “faith” had been given to me almost like an inheritance, and that realization made me question it deeply. From then on, I have been constantly reflecting on what faith really is, and how it comes to define existence and truth. As human beings, we search for answers to life’s questions, but perhaps there is no single absolute truth. There are many religions and many gods, yet we cannot know the exact nature of the one we seek to believe in and entrust ourselves to.

Because of this, my work seeks to visualize emotions that blur and cross the boundaries between faith and doubt, truth and illusion, innocence and fear, identity and oppression.

How do those feelings actually show up in the garments — is it in the cut, the fabric, or the way the body is restricted or freed?

In Blind Faith, emotions like fear and doubt appear mainly through the way the body is shaped and constrained. I used draping, wire structures, and distorted pleats to twist and pull the body, creating forms that reflect suppressed desire, judgment, and pain.

At the same time, I developed textiles inspired by long-exposure photography, where blurred traces of light create an unstable and ghostly atmosphere. Rough textures and mist-like effects visualize the uncertainty between belief and illusion, reality and fiction.

So these emotions are not only in the choice of fabric, but also in the way the silhouette restricts or frees the body, and in the tactile, visual language of the materials. For me, fear and doubt ultimately become a physical experience on the body.

One creator that inspires you.

One of the creators I have been most inspired by is Simone Rocha. Actually, she’s my first love. Although her styling is different from my own work, I deeply admire the way she develops narratives through details, and I respect her storytelling approach. At the same time, I also draw great inspiration from the theater director Reza Abdoh. I was completely drawn in while watching his performance The Hip-Hop Waltz of Eurydice. His work expressed religion, power, and blind faith in a fragmented and intense language on stage, combining both horror and poetic sensitivity in a way that I find profoundly impactful.

What about your future plans

My future plan is to apply for a Master’s degree in fashion design. I’m still not sure whether I’ll be going to London or staying in New York where I am right now, haha. But either way, I want to study in a place where I can better present and develop my design, and also gain experience working in the field. On the side, I’m also thinking about selling my brand in a small way for now.

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