Kim West interview

BY admin on July 28, 2011

Last week we talked to Kim West about her new line of latex fashions. Kim’s line departs from anything we’ve seen in the marketplace in that she is emphasizing the matte look of latex. Part of her inspiration originated from her boredom with the traditional shiny / wet look that latex fashions typically sport.

Her latest line targets the mainstream fashion market by chlorinating the latex, defining her treatment as “Glyde-tex”, a process which results in latex that is easy to slip on and off. Although chlorinating latex can remove the need for talc or lube in putting on tight fitting garments, we asked Kim if mainstream users would mind the sweat that tends to build while wearing latex:

My target market is 18 to early thirties women. It’s no secret that women have suffered for fashion throughout the ages. If it makes you look good, your willing to accept some minor discomfort. Look at the heels that are popular today.

Another innovation of her current line is mixing latex with non-latex fabrics. In addition to the dresses and skirts available on her site currently, she plans to offer outerwear with latex components this Fall.

For latex enthusiasts who have owned garments for an extended time and worn them out in the midday sun, you know that fading and staining can happen. Instead of fighting the natural aging of latex, Kim decided to embrace it and has added ‘distressed’ latex to her line of cutting edge fashions.

At the moment Kim’s fashions are available only over the web. In the past she had focused primarily on owning a storefront. When asked about the transition from brick and mortar to the web, Kim stated:

I initially thought the web would be much easier than a brick and mortar store. However, I have found that is not the case. There is a lot of behind the scenes work that is constantly taking place. You can’t just slap up a site and forget about it. There are pictures, the photographers, models, blog, something always needs work and updating.

While Kim plans to maintain her site, she has recently focused on working out distribution deals to get her line into select high fashion stores in London, Paris, NY, LA, and other major cities.

Whew – talk about an update! Kim is quite the innovator extraordinaire, and we invite you to check out her site: http://www.kimwest.co.uk/

Pictures courtesy of:
Nils Bratby
Immortaleye Photography
www.immortaleye.co.uk

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