In Dealing with Style, Kim Jones is Inspired by Everything but Fashion

Kim Jones’ personal style is inspired by armor and particular obsessions.

Ask Kim Jones about how she got into dressing up, and she’ll tell you about… styrofoam. “[I] was attaching styrofoam to clogs I owned in the hopes of recreating the Spice Girls platforms,” she confesses. “It went horribly, but did I insist on wearing them around the house, scattering styro everywhere? Yes. Did I have to vacuum it all up? Also yes.”

Those bespoke shoes are long gone, but Kim continues to view fashion as a corollary of her lived experiences, which, at least for now, remain inspired by the English. Spending lots of time in London, she leans toward large coats as an armor around crowds, teasing that she’d buy a pair of modern-day pauldrons if she could. You’ll often find her cocooned in noir suits with waists that curve into an hourglass or jackets whose shoulders stand at attention; shapely garments that make her feel most empowered, along with lace or sheer silks.

After making the pivot from fashion to film in the last few years, Kim’s wardrobe has evolved to almost exclusively black “to avoid overstimulating my brain and what’s left of it after eight hours of writing.” She’s inclined toward intimate pieces with a hint of mystery that lights up her senses in a subtle way, just like the art she crafts and consumes. “Looking everywhere but fashion for your own style can be really illuminating,” she encourages. “Finding what films or poetry or art resonate deeply with you can tell you a lot about who you are.”