Kenzo

Kenzo Takada

The Label

Kenzo's success started in 1970: during this year he presented his first show at the Vivienne Gallery; his first store, "Jungle Jap" was opened; and one of his models appeared in the cover of ELLE. His collection was presented in New York and Tokyo in 1971. The next year, he won the Fashion Editor Club of Japan's prize. Kenzo proved his sense of dramatic appearance when, in 1978 and 1979, he held his shows in a circus tent, finishing with horsewomen performers wearing transparent uniforms and he himself riding an elephant.

His first men's collection was launched in 1983. In 1988, his women's perfume line began with Kenzo de Kenzo, Parfum d'été, Le monde est beau and L'eau de Kenzo. Kenzo pour Homme was his first men's perfume (1991).

Since 1993 the brand Kenzo is owned by the French luxury goods company LVMH.

Kenzo Takada announced his retirement in 1999, leaving his assistants in charge of his fashion house. In 2005, he reappeared as a decoration designer presenting "Gokan Kobo" ("workshop of the five senses"), a brand of tableware, home objects and furniture.

The Look

His motifs are flowers and leaves, even his perfume bottle is a leaf. He likes animal prints, tartans and daring colour combinations.

His predilection is for simplified child-like shapes like pullover vests, knee length shorts, mini coats, sweater dresses, made fresh by such foreign nuances as Kimono sleeves (unusual in knitted clothing) and oversized berets.

He follows the principle of flat patterns like used for kimonos. He widens armholes and modifies shoulders. He is influenced by folk costumes and interprets varied dress such as Spanish boleros, Austrian loden jackets, Indian trousers, Chinese tunics, Bedouin blankets and Breton aprons.

The Designer

Kenzo Takada was born in Kyoto, in the Hyogo region of Southern Japan in 1940. Dissatisfied with the literature studies prescribed by his traditional innkeeper parents, he went to Tokyo, where he worked as a house painter and took evening classes in studio art.

In 1958 he joined the predominantly female student body of the Bunka Gakuen School of Fashion. In 1960 he won a Japanese fashion award, the prestigious Soen prize. He began working for the Sanai department store as a designer of girl's clothing, making up to 40 styles every month.

In 1964 Kenzo moved to Paris. He took some time to settle in, but eventually he started sketching. The revolutionary new outfits by Courreges were the inspiration for a series of 30 designs he made, 5 of which were accepted by designer Louis Feraud. Over the next few years, he worked for various departmental stores, the Pisanti textile group and Relations Textiles.

In 1970 Kenzo took over a former antique clothing store in disrepair and painted it himself. Then cutting and sewing a collection of his own designs, he took them round to the fashion magazines. By November he had moved to 28 passage Choiseul and almost immediately his clothes started attracting notice. A boutique in the Galeria Vivienne gave him the chance to introduce his own style to Parisiennes.

He opened his own boutique called "Jungle Jap" selling loose casual clothes, smock tent dresses, and huge striped dungarees with elephant legs. He enlarged armholes and changed the shoulder shape and introduced 100% cotton fabrics. In 1971 Jungle Jap designs were featured in American Vogue as the next development in the Paris boutique scene. In 1972 Kenzo's show at the Gare d'Orsay was very successful.

In 1975 his first collections were shown in Tokyo. In 1977 he presented his collections in New York. In 1978 he became known as the "Great White designer" although his designs were very colourful indeed and his styles amazingly diverse. In 1979 his collection was shown in Zurich for the first time.

In 1990 Kenzo's empire expanded to included menswear, jeans, children's wear and other products.

Official Website

Kenzo