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Til Death Do Us Part: West Coast Couture with Firmé Atelier
Firmé Atelier reimagines bridal couture with a West Coast flair.
The city of Los Angeles showed out for the debut of Fashion House Firmé Atelier’s first bridal collection, a landmark event for the West Coast fashion scene. Last month, coinciding with AAPI Heritage month, Firmé's museum-style presentation debuting at John Doe Gallery in Downtown Los Angeles had a crowd of close friends, industry professionals, lowrider cars, and fashion lovers, shut down the block and dressed to impress to honor Firmé’s enduring artistic vision. The brand led by Eric Kim, head of operations, Paul Um, visual director and co-founder, and in-house designer Jonathan Lee, is a testament to innovation, meticulous craftsmanship, and an unapologetically LA identity that reflects the rich diversity of the Hispanic, Asian, Native American, and other communities of color on the West Coast.
Jonathan Lee, Paul Um, and Eric Kim. Photo: Estevan Oriol
Founded in 2018 by Kim and Um, who met in the Catholic church as kids and was baptized together, Firmé integrates their religious upbringing into their collections and overall brand aesthetic. When thinking about West Coast fashion, streetwear, fast fashion styles, relaxed fits, apple watches, and white tank tops and jeans often come to mind, reflecting the land’s laid-back, tech-driven culture and sunny climate. Typically, to get a taste of the high fashion scene one would have to travel to Europe or Asia. However the team at Firmé is redefining the narrative by expanding the possibilities, bringing bespoke couture to LA and creating a new paradigm for West Coast fashion.
Firmé’s team, from left: Christtopher Chitay, Suzy Kim, José Chitay, Jonathan Lee, Paul Um, Soon Hwa Chang, Josué Alvarez, Jayden Kelly; Eric Kim in the middle. All are wearing Firmé Atelier staff lab coats. Photo: Louisa Meng / For LA Times)
The duo decided to shake up the fashion game in Los Angeles and initially helped brands develop their designs, turning sketches into tangible realities. Creating bespoke pieces for artists like Lil Uzi Vert and Lee Chae-rin (CL), paired with Kim’s light hearted demeanor showcased in TikTok and Instagram videos where he teaches us his garment construction techniques, quickly captured the fashion world’s attention. Kim's dedication to the craft reveals his dual nature, not only as an artist, but as a precision driven anatomist and mathematician. Patternmaking and suiting requires an extraordinary attention to detail, a fact Kim emphasizes. “Suiting is the final form of making clothes,” Kim said to the LA Times.
Til Death Do Us Part at John Doe Gallery. Photo: Caspe
Til Death Do Us Part at John Doe Gallery. Photo: Rise Market
Firmé Atelier’s’s bridal collection, “Til Death Do Us Part” reinterprets love and romance in a distinct West Coast “I’ll die about mine” attitude. The collection features frilled chokers, corset lace and ruche detailing, and custom hardware that resembles tattoos, but for clothes. His-and-hers bomber jackets, embroidered with daring intimate phrases in signature West Coast-style fonts, challenges the conventional “white horse and carriage” wedding fashion narrative. You simply can’t compare Firmé Atelier to other couture brands at the moment, and we can’t wait to see what’s next.
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