CHILDREN OF LENINGRADSKY Ximon Lee’s thesis collection earned him Parsons’ 2014 Designer of the Year award. In 2015, he won the H&M Design Award, becoming the first American and the only menswear designer to receive that honor.
Ximon Lee ’14 BFA FASHION DESIGN For his striking collection, Lee drew inspiration from the layered oversized adult clothing worn by youth in the documentary The Children of Leningradsky. Lee deconstructed found clothing and explored techniques of bonding fabrics, combining materials including denim, cardboard, and trash bags. His signature style includes exaggerated proportions in details like sleeves, trouser legs, lapels, and pockets.
Lee is adapting pieces for a capsule
collection H&M is producing in conjunction with the prize. About Lee’s process of adapting conceptual work for retail, his advisor,
PORTFOLIO
Alla Eizenberg, says, “He always finds a way to create without compromising what he believes.”
Born to Korean parents in northeastern
China, Lee developed an interest in graphic design that led him to Parsons. He initially had little interest in fashion but discovered
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a passion for garment construction during a summer class. He then enrolled in the BFA program and interned at Calvin Klein, Phillip Lim, and Prabal Gurung, AAS Fashion Design ’01. More recently, Lee has developed his collection for the fall–winter 2015 market and was a semifinalist for the LVMH Prize for Young Fashion Designers, awarded to innovative entrepreneurial young designers. ximonlee.com
Thesis advisor Alla Eizenberg describes Lee’s work ethic this way: “He produces in a week what others do in a month, a quality that brought his senior collection to a distinctive place.”