East West - The Asian American Lifestyle Magazine

A stylish chat with designer David Lim
By Eliza Gano, originally published April 2006

Jeans first appeared in 1873 when Levi Strauss debuted a pair of dungarees. Since then, jeans have become a fashion mainstay, and this seasonless wardrobe staple is an $11 billion industry comprising of everything from sturdy work pants to premium labels. 

Enter denim designer David Lim.

Lim, the creative force behind the Los Angeles-based Kasil Denim, takes his fit, finish and back pocket design very seriously.  Lim describes his work as “painting with denim.”

“I use that term because of my fine arts background. When designing I start off with a scratch, like a drawing board and denim is like a canvas,” Lim says. “When you sand it, it takes away the color, when you add color to it, it goes back.  It’s got the same techniques that you use when you do painting.”Lim grew up around the clothing industry as the son of a tailor. His father, who has worked in the tailoring business for more than 30 years at his location on Wilshire Boulevard, caters to a clientele that includes movie stars, celebrities and politicians.

Lim remembers how one day his father left some denim on his table.  Lim took the fabric, put it on a frame and went to work.

“I kind of dabbled into making my first pair of jeans because I was falling in love with the actual fabric,” Lim recalls. “Once I started making some patterns with my dad’s pattern maker, he gave me some pointers. My father had a lot to do with how I look at the garment and how I completely adjusted and fit it.”

Lim’s love affair with the fabric is really quite simple.

“What I like about it is that denim has a very sculptural quality to it. It’s also a durable fabric, you can pretty much beat it up using a lot different treatments. And it has that fun quality to it,” Lim says. 

To keep up with the cyclical demand of creating new twists on denim, Lim is working on a stitchless design that shows lots of lines but using hidden stitching. The idea will go perfect with his current collection, a line that he jokingly admits works with a woman’s assets.

“Kasil is notorious for our backs, the way it looks from the back, it lifts in the right places,” Lim says, laughing. “The fabric that we use has a little bit of Lycra; it’s a very sturdy fabric so it pushes you in the right direction. It’s kind of like a girdle but for the butt.”

His designs not only appeal to the everyday woman looking for that extra lift but also to celebrities such as Lindsay Lohan, Lucy Liu, Angelina Jolie, Rebecca Romijn and Jennifer Aniston.

And while shopping for jeans can be overwhelming, Lim offers some advice for finding that perfect pair.   

“Women are always going to find something they like in the wash. And then once they try it on, the first thing they look at is their back, how it looks on their butt,” Lim says. “You don’t want to put anything on that’s going to make your butt look flat and you don’t want to put anything on just because it’s the hottest denim brand out there because if it still doesn’t fit you, I don’t think you should get it. You have to really go with a brand that goes with a woman’s body type.”

The two denim musts for your wardrobe are straight leg (“I always say girls should have a straight leg jean”) and a dark wash because it “works with everything else.”

After finding the perfect pair of jeans, the relationship doesn’t end there. The next stage is maintenance and care. According to Lim, the best way to take care of jeans is the washing machine – but not after every wearing.

“Jeans are made to wear more then once; you can wear it maybe three times and then throw it into the wash. Always turn them inside out, which will let the color preserve,” Lim says. “I wouldn’t go too hot, maybe a cold or lukewarm and either hang dry or tumble dry in low heat, nothing high. If you want to shrink it up a little more, put it into a high heat.”

And for those who like to go the extra mile by dry cleaning, it works but is not necessary.

“I don’t see anything wrong with that… if you’ve got the time and money to do it, why not? Dry cleaning does preserve it a little bit longer but jeans are durable, you can put them in the wash and they should be fine,” Lim says.