All clothing by Koonhor.

LAST LOOKS - KOONHOR

“My ears hear what others cannot hear,” says the voice of young India in the opening moments of Stoker as she crosses a deserted highway and gazes onto a field of tall, dead grass. Indeed, the sound of her skirt billowing in the breeze is amplified, as is the clicking of her five-inch heels as she glides across the asphalt. “I wear my father’s belt tied around my mother’s blouse and shoes which are from my uncle,” she says.

It is no wonder a film that pays such painstaking attention to garments served as the primary inspiration for Koonhor’s Spring 2014 collection. “The movie was a true tactile experience,” says Koon Lim, who, along with his design partner Catrine Thé, forms Koonhor. “The close-ups of the textiles, the sounds they made, and how a pair of shoes or a belt could play its own pivotal role in the plot were simply amazing.”

Both Lim and Thé hail from Singapore, but they did not meet until 2003, after they had both relocated to New York. They recognized in one another an appreciation for the technicality of design, a penchant for the intricate, and a tendency towards androgyny—a tendency Thé periodically challenges with feminine touches. And so, as if by fate, Koonhor came to be. “The world is a very small place,” adds Lim.

Though it is the similarities in the designers’ visions that brings Koonhor to life, it is Lim and Thé’s subtle differences and complementary strengths that set it apart from other budding collections. “Each season starts with a shared vision,” says Thé, “and from there we specialize.” Koon heads up design, and Thé handles production, each embracing the other’s specific preferences along the way. “Koon prefers a somewhat irreverent, androgynous look, and I am into minimalism,” explains Thé. “Balancing the hard and soft elements can make for a fascinating interplay each season.” Though contrasting design choices never escalate to heated conflict, according to Thé, there is one issue on which the duo fails to settle: “The only thing we vehemently disagree on is who takes out the trash.”

Contrasts are abundant in Koonhor’s Spring 2014 collection. Sheer blouses dance around heavy, structured skirts. Reflective orange leathers are set against a matte black tank. But the juxtapositions are not simply æsthetic. “We also considered the wearer and how the different textures felt against her skin—when she puts the garment on, when she moves,” says Lim. “It plays into our collection’s overall theme of sensuality and exploration,” mirroring India’s accelerated transformation from innocence to experience in Stoker.

Despite the designers’ Asian heritage and connection to New York, Koonhor is based in Milan. Lim and Thé were drawn to the city’s heritage and Milan, in turn, has embraced them and their creations. In 2012, the label was granted honorary recognition by Who Is on Next?, an event which AltaRoma and Vogue Italia host in honor of young designers based in Milan. Fittingly, all of Koonhor’s meticulously selected fabrics and materials are sourced locally, from Italy.

With plans to expand their e-commerce and develop the label’s global reach, it is evident Koonhor is only at the early stages of its narrative. If Lim and Thé continue to find the delicate balance between in-sync and at-odds, it is destined to have a considerably more positive trajectory than the unrelentingly dark and death-ridden Stoker. “We complement each other well in our work as well as our personal lives,” says Thé. “We cherish our partnership and rely on one another.” So long as the trash bin isn’t full.

For more information, please visit Koonhor.com. Styling by Tony Irvine. Makeup by Karan Franjola at Marek & Associates. Hair by Diego Da Silva at Tim Howard Management. Model: Zlata at IMG. Manicure by Ami Vega at Marek & Associates. Photographer’s assistants: Henry Lopez and Darren Hall. Stylist’s assistant: Susan Walsh. Hairstylist’s assistant: Ayae Yamamoto. Digital technician: Zach Ramey. Retouching by Norkin Digital Art.

Allyson Shiffman is a pseudo-intellectual writer who lives and works in New York. She frequently contributes to Interview, BULLETT, EXIT, and The Last Magazine.

Esteban Gomez Finds Creatives a Home

With years of experience in the fashion industry, the Creatives Agent at Compass offers designers, photographers, stylists, models, and others a new approach to find a place to call home.

The Last Magazine Celebrates the Fall 2019 Issue

The cover story of our Fall 2019 issue is a love letter to New York City by photographer Dan Martensen and stylist Clare Richardson starring one of our favorite models of the moment, Binx Walton. For our launch party, we packed into Lola, one of the East Village’s newest hotspots, for an all-night dance party […]

Peter Ash Lee's New Magazine 'Burdock' Celebrates Asian-American Talent

Named after a root vegetable common to Asian cuisine, photographer Peter Ash Lee’s new magazine and digital platform celebrates Asian-American culture in an attempt to welcome a more diverse group both in front of and behind the camera.

Hans Neumann's Berlin Skaters

In an exclusive photo essay and “video poem,” the Peruvian photographer and director explores his family’s ancestral home through the lens of a group of young skateboarders who reflect the vitality of a new generation of European youth.

FUMI NAGASAKA STARTS A 'TEENAGE RIOT'

In her second book, the Japanese photographer captures the individual personalities and æsthetics of four adolescent girls in their hometowns in a collection that is both intimate and anthropological.

RO KWON ON CULTS AND YOUNG LOVE IN 'THE INCENDIARIES'

In her propulsive début novel, ten years in the making, the author ponders the unfathomability of others in the tale of a young woman who joins a cult.

MARTIN ZÄHRINGER GOES FISHING WITH JOHN BAKER

In his first book, the London-based photographer documents every facet of the life of a Barbadian fisherman with whom he felt an immediate kinship, acting as both visitor and companion.

JONAH BOKAER'S FIFTEENTH ANNIVERSARY

The collaborative, media-mixing contemporary choreographer celebrates fifteen years of his own company with a retrospective program and world premiere to look back while moving forward.

MARIO SORRENTI SHOWS A NEW SIDE OF KATE MOSS

In a new book of previously unreleased photographs, the famed photographer spotlights the iconic model’s innocence from their days of youthful love.

ROMAN MEJIA SHINES IN A NEW GENERATION OF DANCERS AT NEW YORK CITY BALLET

As the company makes its way through tumultuous times, the eighteen-year-old demonstrates the promise of a rising young crop of dancers with his clean lines and bounding jumps.

NEW YORK BY THE LAST MAGAZINE: VICE IMPACT PUBLISHER KATHERINE KEATING CHANNELS YOUTH ACTIVISM TO CREATE CHANGE

In an era of flourishing youth activism, the politically-minded advocate is harnessing the tools of social media and the internet to effect positive change by a young generation through direct calls to action.

NEW YORK BY THE LAST MAGAZINE: AUTHOR ALEXANDRA KLEEMAN SAYS WRITING IS LIKE PLAYING A VIDEO GAME

In her novel and short stories, the Staten Island-based author probes the border between science and literature with discomfiting tales about the body and its relationship to the perilous world around it.

HERMIONE HOBY'S 'NEON IN DAYLIGHT' REINVENTS THE NEW YORK NOVEL FOR A NEW AGE

In her début novel, the young British author ponders questions of selfhood and power dynamics in a thoughtful bildungsroman set during a sweltering New York summer.

ADWOA ABOAH HOSTS OUR TENTH-ANNIVERSARY PARTY WITH BURBERRY

Take a look at our tenth-anniversary celebration with Burberry at Radegast Hall in Brooklyn, hosted by our latest cover model Adwoa Aboah.

KANAZAWA

Photographer Marie Zucker was given rare access into an okiya, or boarding house, in the Japanese city of Kanazawa, where she captured these reflective images of geisha-in-training.

THE LAST WORD: ICEBERG

The Arctic ice pack puts the freeze on a teetering relationship in the latest edition of The Last Word, our ongoing series of original short fiction.

THE LAST GIFT GUIDE 2017

Our annual selection of gifts for you and yours, including everything you can imagine from a silk toothbrush on up to your own private island.

DAVID HALLBERG ON INJURIES AND INSECURITIES

In his new memoir, the celebrated principal dancer of American Ballet Theatre recounts his intense childhood training, joining the Bolshoi Ballet, and the arduous yearlong rehabilitation after a nearly career-ending injury that gave him a new perspective on his talent and the art form.