ARTIST TO ARTIST: KAI-AAKMANN VS. EDWARD E. CARLSON AND JOHN GRAHAM, JR.


Soonjin Park is the designer of South Korea-based brand Kai-aakmann. She studied fashion design in college and upon graduation, started designing for Morris Coming Home. The brand had a unisex element that played to the Park’s interest in creating genderless fashion. She soon launched her own collection, Eloq, which allowed her to develop her own singular design aesthetic. In 2007, Park joined Kai-aakmann, a brand that gave her a larger platform to apply her personal design skills.

We appreciate the masculine tradition of tailoring mixed with the softness of feminine draping. This harmony results in a brand that speaks to an intelligent, curious and contemporary customer. Kai-aakmann's modern exploration of masculine and feminine attitude expresses a directional perspective and approach to design offering key pieces that we feel forward thinking men can relate to. Park plays with the duality of not only male versus female, but avant design and classicism, all with an emphasis on a comfortable and youthful ease. Largely inspired by youth and street culture as well as nature, Park’s designs find inspiration from her daily environment, whether it be in the silhouette of a dress or the color palette of the season.

The Space Needle - Architects Edward E. Carlson and John Graham, Jr.

The Space Needle is a tower in Seattle, Washington, a major landmark of the Pacific Northwest region of the United States and a symbol of Seattle. Located at the Seattle Center, it was built for the 1962 World's Fair, during which time nearly 20,000 people a day used the elevators, with over 2.3 million visitors in all for the World Fair. The Space Needle is 605 feet high at its highest point and 138 feet wide at its widest point and weighs 9,550 tons.

The architecture of the Space Needle is the result of a compromise between designs of two architects, Edward E. Carlson and John Graham, Jr. Edward E. Carlson, chairman of the 1962 World's Fair in Seattle, originally had an idea for erecting a tower with a restaurant at the World's Fair. Carlson was then president of a hotel company and not previously known for art or design, but he was inspired by a recent visit to the Stuttgart Tower in Germany. Carlson infamously first sketched the outline of the Space Needle on cocktail napkin (it's true, it's framed in a museum!). John Graham, an architect who had won praise for designing Northgate Mall in Seattle soon became involved. 

When it was completed it was the tallest structure west of the Mississippi River. It is built to withstand winds of up to 200 miles per hour and earthquakes of up to 9.1 magnitude, which would protect the structure against an earthquake as powerful as the 1700 Cascadia earthquake. The tower also has 25 lightning rods on its roof to prevent lightning damage.

The Space Needle features an observation deck at 520 feet, and a gift shop with the rotating SkyCity restaurant at 500 feet. From the top of the Needle, one can see not only the Downtown Seattle skyline, but also the Olympic and Cascade Mountains, Mount Rainier, Mount Baker, Elliott Bay and surrounding islands. Photographs of the Seattle skyline often show the Space Needle in a prominent position, even appearing to tower above the rest of the city's skyscrapers, as well as Mount Rainier in the background.







KAI-AAKMANN - KNIT PULLOVER
in melange
DETAILS: This sweater is made from 78% Cotton and 22% Wool Features ribbed crew neck cuff and hem with a rounded yoke which separates two different styles of knit which creates a subtle contrast and an architectural detail. Straight fit with long arms.
$128

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