TAILOR PROFILE SERIES VOL. 14 WITH YURIE LIM
Style /
July 2022
This series follows Tailors from around the world–highlighting their craft, passions, love for the brand and the impact they have on bettering the planet through extending the life of your garments. For Vol. 14, we interviewed Yurie Lim from Brooklyn, New York. This volume explores Yurie’s love for art, fashion, and music–and how being an immigrant in the U.S. has cultivated who he is as an artist.
MEET YURIE LIM
What is your position and how long have you been with Levi’s®?
I am a Tailor in the vibrant and bustling Williamsburg neighborhood and have been tailoring and customizing denim at Levi’s® for almost 3 years now.
What design aesthetic is in your veins that amplifies the work you do with the Levi’s® brand?
One of my aesthetic inspirations comes from the structure and utility of workwear. I love that Levi’s® started as a workwear company and continues to pay tribute to their heritage.
What is your first memory of an artist or designer that inspired you to create/sew?
When I was 13, I listened to a lot of Nirvana. Kurt Cobain’s style inspired me to learn how to sew because I wanted to dress like him, but couldn’t afford certain pieces he wore. For instance, in my town you couldn’t really get skinny jeans unless you went to a specialty shop. I grew up in a rural area where there were no malls–only small markets to buy jeans. So I decided to buy affordable baggy jeans that cost me $1 and turned them into skinny or tapered styles, which was the first time I touched a sewing machine and reconstructed a pair of jeans–and here I am now as a Tailor for Levi’s®.
As an immigrant artist, I may not get the same opportunities and exposure as others, but because of that, I am even more driven to make something beautiful out of nothing–that is the immigrant mentality.
Tell us about your story immigrating to the U.S. and how that has influenced your craft.
Coming to the U.S. was a big challenge for me and I had to adjust in many ways. From learning the English language to navigating such a fast paced city–there were so many obstacles I needed to overcome. I had to change my mindset completely to work in New York: grind, hustle, and save money. I applied for many different jobs and noticed that people didn’t treat me fairly because of the way I speak and look–it made me realize that being an immigrant is a huge challenge. As years went by, I adapted, got the hang of it, and met new friends. I got exposed to art, music, and culture, and began to realize how important fashion is in New York.
Being an immigrant is a big inspiration for my craft because it gives me purpose, reason, and happiness to do what I do as long as I know why I am doing it. We often get pushed aside because we do not speak proper English or we do not dress in expensive clothes. As an immigrant artist, I may not get the same opportunities and exposure as others, but because of that, I am even more driven to make something beautiful out of nothing–that is the immigrant mentality.
What motivated you to choose the local bodega as the backdrop for your profile photo shoot?
The reason I wanted to take photos at the bodega is because it’s so representative of New York City–a place that I now call home. So many walks of life come through a bodega, which is often immigrant-owned. Living in this city and being completely immersed in the diversity of culture has changed me and has opened my eyes to so many different perspectives.
You were tapped to create a pair of jeans for the Levi’s® Archives. Tell us about your creation.
The Levi’s® archive piece I created has flowers embroidered on it with the message “Don’t forget about me” to remind people that as immigrants, we exist, we are here to build and contribute something great to the world. When I embroider freehand, I let my intuition take over and am inspired by colors and objects around me. I also added side panels from up cycled jeans and expanded the jean for a two-tone look and feel. My craft is all about being free and being in love with the process.
I hope to continue our journey on bettering the planet by teaching others about purposeful consumption and extending the life of their denim in unique ways.
You are well known in the Brooklyn area for your love of keeping denim circular. What’s the secret for keeping jeans out of the landfill?
What encourages people to come back to me at the Tailor Shop is how I involve them in the process. I see them as a fellow artist and we collaborate to give new life to their garments. I hope to continue our journey on bettering the planet by teaching others about purposeful consumption and extending the life of their denim in unique ways.
What is next on your upcycling list to create for a consumer?
I’ve recently been thinking about fabric manipulation, chain stitching, organic garment dye and rhinestones all together. I think that combination would be fire and could work really well to tell a beautiful story throughout the garment.
