Iconic runways

First Runway show as appointed creative director - Nigo

The Fall 2022 Ready-to-wear show was the first show with the newly appointed creative director, Nigo. The show was held during Paris Men’s Fashion Week at Paris Galerie Vivienne. The runway show debuted not only Nigo’s first collection but the soundtrack was a preview mix that was composed by Nigo himself, alongside Lil Uzi Vert, A$AP Rocky, Pusha T, Tyler the Creator and Pharrell (Abad, 2022).

The venue, Paris Galerie Vivienne, is sentimental to the brand as the late founder, Kenzo Takada staged his first show for his label in 1970 in the same location.

The Fall 2022 Ready-to-wear show portrayed various designs, fabrics and prints. The most important print to consider is the poppy print, a key print for the fashion house. Although the traditional print came through in a baroque and Jungle Jap inspired take, Nigo applied a twist on the traditional poppy and created a stylised drawing of the flower and applied it to washed denim workwear silhouettes. This was applied by velcro patches on hats, waistcoats, midi skirts and camp collar shirts (Leitch, 2022).

Key details on the garments are aspects such as the 1970 date, the year Kenzo was founded. Along with cultural clichés such as the map of France paired with berets. Japanese influence was brought into the design aspects through the kimonos and bibbed gingham aprons worn over suiting. The Ivy League and American sports influence shone through the bomber jackets and unwashed dungarees.

The denim was sourced from Japan and the top-stitching contained undyed indigo. A variety of new prints surfaced with the evident sketched prints, indicative of the strong brand DNA process of Kenzo Takada. The iconic tiger also made a debut, although adapted by Nigo’s current pottery master.

Nigo described the collection as: “So it’s like 1950s and ’60s clothing remade in the ’80s, you know, but through the lens of the 2020s.”

Second Collection Drop by Nigo: Poppy Collection 6 May 2022

Nigo has released a limited edition drop for SS22, as homage to the house founder, Kenzo Takada. Incorporating original Kenzo style codes, whilst concentrating on a modern and forward thinking design approach. The famous poppy print is a key identifier throughout the collection with deconstructed workwear silhouettes (Slater, 2022). The large scale poppy print was featured on shirts, dresses, skirts and trousers.

The collection had a limited colour palette of white, black, navy, pinks and reds. His silhouettes have an important androgyny feature with loose and boxy lines incorporated throughout. Nigo uses poplin and cotton drill as key fabrics.

His collection is said to represent an eternal bloom with a street-leaning inclination (Silbert, (2022).

FALL 2021 READY-TO-WEAR

Felipe Oliveira Baptista states: “Extreme comfort in a very strong look feels very now.”

The Fall 2021 ready-to-wear fashion show did not reissue a garment from Kenzo Takada’s greatest hits of the 70s and 80s, but rather paid tribute to the late founder through intuitive ideas.

Oliveira Baptista simplified and contemporised materials whilst using geometric lines into a streetwear form. His technique had a digital point of view and highlighted the pandemic in his designs. The duality between getting ready to face the world again, but being covered with loud, beautiful things (Madsen, 2021).

The clothes presented on the runway are said to have an authenticity factor to them (Madsen, 2021) and that the brand strives for an ongoing response to the challenges they face. The Fall 2021 show was presented in a live video, due to Covid-19.

The fashion show was a take on a new narrative in fashion - new possibilities, narrative, collections, silhouettes, functionalities and sensualities (Nguyen, 2021). The show included printed bodysuits, oversized jackets that doubled as comforters along with knit dresses with hood and chunky sleeve details. The clothes were displayed in bright colours such as pinks, blues, reds and greens. With prints that ranged from Jungle Jap inspiration to stripes and large print motifs. The models danced and twirled in the show, giving the audience a performance, allowing the garments to move and present themselves in an unconventional way.

The start of the fashion show represents models wearing ruched anoraks and matching orange, blue, and green pants along with chunky boots. In other scenes, male and females alike don shift dresses, jackets, sweaters, and oversized T-shirts in chain link, plaid, striped, and floral prints. The silhouettes are dramatic with rich textures and patterns that instantly draw the eye. There is a clear link to Kenzo Takada’s designs, with the overall use of prints and bold colour pairings (Royce, 2021).

SPRING 2021 READY-TO-WEAR

The spring 2021 ready-to-wear show was held in a human-size plastic tunnel system erected with a rose garden. The designer, Oliver, is known to be nature obsessive with roots in the hills of Azores (Madsen, 2020). His mission is to install his works with an harmonious and optimistic aspect of the environment, themes that are core to Kenzo.

Oliver worked with the WWF, using recyclable plastics in his works, in order to help double the global population of tigers (Madsen, 2020).

The show opened with models walking down the runway, veiled in beekeeper suits. Based on the documentary, Honeyland, about a beekeeper in rural Macedonia, served as a reference for the show’s designs.

Oliver explains: “The film portrays the contrast between its protagonist, a lady who respects the bees and only ever takes the honey she needs to survive—“half for me, and half for you”—and her industrious neighbours, who deplete the natural resources and end up killing the bees. “It’s one of the most ancient collaborations between man and nature” (Madsen, 2020). The comparison to a beekeeper is symbolic of humankind bargaining with the ecosystem.

A bold but subdued colour palette was chosen; with reds, blues, muted greens, yellows, and pastel oranges.

Garments portrayed on the runway ranged from an adaptable coat with multi-pocketing that can be transformed into a bum-bag and a cocoon coat with a caped hood. Floral prints from Kenzo archives were evident among the designs, which had been faded to look clinical and blurry. Dark undertones shone through the delicate veils, lace raincoats and little summer dresses.

First Fashion show & collection - 1970

Kenzo debuted his first fashion show at Galeria Vivienne in Paris (Remembering Kenzo Takada, Designer Behind Kenzo Paris and Kenzo Home - L’Officiel, 2022). His designs were designed for women on public transport (Fashion pioneer Kenzo Takada always stayed true to his heart | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis, 2022). He combined influences from the eastern and western worlds into his designs (Fashion pioneer Kenzo Takada always stayed true to his heart | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis, 2022). Focusing on bold colours, strong designs and bold prints in his collection. Supermodels featured in the show are: Grace Jones, Pat Cleveland, Jerry Hall and many more.

1978

The Kenzo 1978/1979 collection was an iconic show for the Parisian fashion brand. Kenzo Takada held the show in a circus tent, featuring live animals in his fashion show (Y, 2020) highlighting the merge of the eastern and western cultures. The designer was well-known for his bold colours, oriental designs and joyous moods portrayed in his creations.

La Collection Momento

The 2018 Fall ready to wear collection was influenced by Kenzo Takada’s archive designs. Focusing on Takada’s 1992 men’s iconic print of a hyper realist tomato, Leon and Lim incorporated this into their designs (Lane, 2020). The duo also incorporated the iconic tiger in an airbrushed format. Collared shirts, fanny packs, ball caps, turtlenecks and tiger tees are part of the key designs featured. The idea of the show was to reinforce fun and boldness.

Spring 2014 Ready to wear

Lim and Leon introduced Overfishing in the Spring 2014 collection. Highlighting that tuna, cod, trout are nearing extinction levels. A portion of proceeds on the collection was donated to the Blue Marine Foundation (Phelps, 2013).

The collection was held at Luc Besson’s film studio La Cité du Cinéma; as Left Coasters. Sea motifs, surf culture and L.A.’s underground music scene were references incorporated into the designs (Phelps, 2013). The collection started with blues and changed into reds, highlighting the result of overfishing. The designers used glossy materials along with tailored design elements (Phelps, 2013).