Ryan Kim

Name: Ryan Kim

College: Duncan '14

Major: Mechanical Engineering Pre-Med

Describe your style: "I'm a minimalist. I focus mostly on my pants, shoes, shirts, and then cardigans or whatever the outerwear. But I feel like giving a little bit of detail... brings you up to another level. So I often wear a pocket square with my blazer, or, if I'm wearing really simple toned cardigan or shirt, I try to boost it up a little with my glasses because they're a little more flashy [he has four different pairs] or I'll wear nicer shoes. I'm always balancing back and forth between classy casual and formal."

How is your closet fit for a college budget? "My principle is when you need to spend, you need to spend. But if not, save up all that money." Most people believe I'm super lavish, but I'm actually kind of frugal. "I focus most of my money on my shoes and outerwear." Since people will mostly focus on your outerwear, save most of your money on the balzer, and cut down the spending on the shirt that's inside. Also, I focus more on how a piece of clothing looks on me, rather than the brand. I don't actually have a lot of clothes. Rather, I am able to make many, many combinations out of what I have, so I have variation in my outfits. 

Since you study fashion on your own a lot, what do you look for when noticing other people? How a person looks put together. It’s really the combination of everything a person is wearing that completes their image, and that is what I look at. 

Do you also study women's fashion? I usually only study men’s fashion, but I do have standards for women’s fashion. I'm not a fan of the preppy or grunge style, more of the classy chic. Something like leggings with a fancy dress is fine. The super baggy clothes thing, where the shirt is barely past the butt, with leggings, yeah. No. Not a fan. It takes like two minutes to dress like that. No effort. 

What does fashion mean for you? "I want to emphasize this. Fashion, I believe, can be a very personal thing. Of course, it's great if you look better in other people's eyes, too. Like, who would hate that? But. Even before that, I feel like it's all about how you convey your emotions, how you actually cater to the inner self. It's my way of expressing my feelings and my way of pulling up my energy. When I wear [nicer] clothes, I feel better, I feel energized, I feel more motivated." I really focus on pleasing myself and sticking to my own standards, rather than following whatever the fad is. "Fashion is just so built into my way of life." It's like second nature, as natural as checking the weather every morning [to plan what to wear.] I've heard from strangers, like you for example, describe me as 'that tall, classy, Asian dude'. It kind of disappoints me that they don't describe me as 'Ryan Kim, that cool guy who is a MechE but also interested in social issues'. It's like people see me for being fashionable, which, I mean, isn't a bad thing, and it's cool that people recognize me for my style, but I wish people would look past that and only see me and my personality. I wish looking fashionable isn't always firstly associated with being materialistic, and that people would look more at the inner beauty. 

Photographer's statement: I chose to feature Ryan because even on the worst of days, he is always dressed completely well. When friends pointed him out to me, Ryan stood out as a splash of class among a sea of sweats and t's, and it was refreshing to the eye. -Thu Nguyen