KILL THE NIGHT
For his Fall 2012 collection, New York-based designer Phillip Lim looked to the leading ladies of dark comics as inspiration. The theme, with the exception of a couple playful, literal takes on superhero (KA-POW sweatshirts and capes), came to life in subtle, professionally restrained form—graphic black-and-white shifts, for example, referenced duality. Now, the designer is taking his postmodern-day superheroine vision one step further, with an original Jan Duursema (Star Wars) illustrated graphic novel that will be unveiled as the clothes hit the market.
“The collection was inspired by neo-noir comic book heroines and this under-the-radar strength that they have living these double lives,” says Lim, who co-wrote the work with long-established comic book scribe John Ostrander, “and since I was looking at V for Vendetta and Sin City for research, too, it seemed like a fun project to incorporate the original sources into a way that we could talk about the collection.” The result, entitled Kill the Night, follows the metamorphoses and misadventures of two Fall collection-clad female assassins. The colors and style of the images reference Lim’s original illustrations, and all the outfits therein are composed entirely of pieces from the new collection. “The experience of working with Jan Duursema—who is a true expert at what she does—was amazing,” says Lim. “It was a very new process for me, as this is my first-ever comic book!” But hopefully not his last.
Kill the Night will be available on Fashion’s Night Out, September 6, at 3.1 Phillip Lim, 115 Mercer Street, New York.