Around a year ago, Chris Leba mentioned that K-Pop artists had developed an affinity for his work at R13. He found out about it on TikTok, as it often goes these days, when a TikToker was reporting on what these musical “idols” were wearing. When asked if the discovery had influenced his work then, he answered no.
The collection was already finished by the time he noticed. Leba is not one to bend the knee to trends, after all. Fast forward to this year’s resort preview, where Leba mentioned that his algorithm has been serving him an abundance of Korean influencers.
He said he’s fascinated by one of the things they wear, legwarmers, and so he made a few pairs in plushy knits to style under over-the-knee shorts and over his signature bulky shoes. Did he design for the K-Poppers? Not particularly. He didn’t spend time on TikTok this year.
What’s fun about listening to Leba run through a rack of clothing is that he loves to cite his references, no matter how disparate or seemingly random they may be. He recently watched , hence the ample sandworm-ish funnel necklines on sweatshirts and the wide foldover collars on his outerwear and knitwear. Another thing the algorithm served him were images of Sigourney Weaver in the first movie.
“She wore the coolest sweatpants,” he said, and so he remade them as slouchy low-rise bermuda shorts and pants. Leba has a long-held affinity for military design details, and recently purchased an old Chinese flare parachute on eBay. Its.
