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Dahye Aidin Kim

Dahye Aidin Kim

Profession
Knit designer
College
London College of Fashion
Person Type
Alumni
Dahye Aidin Kim

Biography

Dahye’s originally goal was to become a womenswear designer, but after taking one lesson in knitting her plans completely changed. She enrolled on the BA (Hons) Fashion Textiles: Knit at LCF and moved from South Korea to London to pursue her new dream. In this interview she tells us how she kickstarted her career as a knitwear designer in China after graduating in 2017.

Interview

How’s life been after graduating from LCF?

During my last year at LCF, one of my lecturers encouraged me to participate in the ‘Knit for Next’ Knitwear Designer Competition and I became finalist, which gave me the opportunity to hold an exhibition in Shanghai. After this experience, I received a job offer with amazing conditions from a big knit company based in Hong Kong and Shanghai, which I accepted immediately. After gaining invaluable experience in China, I’ve now returned to Korea and I’m currently working as a knitwear designer.

Did you always know you wanted to pursue a career in fashion?

Yes, I liked making clothes since I was young — I had no doubt that I would become a fashion designer one day. Now, it has been 10 years since I began studying and working in this field. Even though there is a long road ahead of me to achieve my goals, I am confident that I would become the best in this field.

You say you wanted to become a fashion designer since a very young age. Why did you decide to specialise in knitwear?

Actually, I was studying womenwear in Korea as my major. Then, by accident, I attended a class on learning how to use a knitting machine. The part where I had to pick the yarn, weave the fabric and compose them into clothes was very interesting. I wanted to develop my knowledge in this area, but I couldn’t find any course to study knitwear professionally in Korea, so I enrolled at LCF's BA Fashion Textiles: Knit.

What did you enjoy the most about your course?

Feedback from the passionate tutors was helpful, and the workshop and collaboration lessons are most memorable to me. Learning new techniques and creating something new based on what I had learned was fascinating. I could also share many thoughts about my projects with the tutors and every process of developing new ideas helped me to manifest my creativity.

What would you say to potential students who would like to enrol on this course?

I would like to genuinely recommend the Fashion Textile Knit course at LCF. It is a course where you can express your ideas and style creatively and professionally through advice from various tutors, with classes covering all the contents from knitting machine basics to industrial field knowledge, and it provides much support to students to achieve their desired goals.

For you, what's the best thing about being a knitwear designer?

The fact that I could design everything from the fabric to the actual apparel came to me as an irresistible attraction. With knitwear, you can create an infinite number of designs depending on which stitch, gauge or yarn you use — small differences make big changes.

Any exciting upcoming projects you can tell us about?

Currently, I am organising a womenswear fashion brand based on knitwear, mainly focused on design programming using a specialised knitting machine. I’m also participating in the development of new designs that reflect the trends in China by collaborating with Chinese knit company.

Where would you like to see yourself professionally in the next few years?

My future plans are to establish a knitwear brand and develop new and innovative designs. I also plan to participate in Fashion Week through a collaboration with Teamjinkey for their menswear collection.

Links

London College of Fashion

Contact

Telephone

+44 (0)20 7514 7400

Address

105 Carpenter's Road
London

E20 2AR