Communication

ADVERTISING

Kenzo is a brand that represents playfulness and creativity through prints and colours. The brand uses a variety of cut out images in order to catch customers’ attention. The overall aesthetic is youthful, playful and optimistic. Previous campaigns also portray a level of surrealism. Kenzo has produced several short films and video campaigns on official youtube channels. Print advertisements can be seen in magazines and publications in large volumes.

VIDEO

The Kenzo official youtube channel has 86.9k subscribers. This channel portrays a variety of videos, some examples are replays of fashion shows. These videos range from full fashion shows and others that are 30 seconds long. Advertising campaigns are also promoted on this social media channel. These campaigns include behind-the-scenes, giving consumers an exclusive view of the production department.

Kenzo short films are also included on this channel with the use of the “#kenzoalways” hashtag. These videos are used to portray collections and fashion shows in a different light.

ICONIC FACES

Britney Spears is an American music artist. The artist was first introduced as the brand’s face with the La Collection Memento N°2 campaign in 2018. The campaign was shot by fashion photographer Peter Lindbergh in Los Angeles.

“Britney is the queen of denim to me. She’s both the quintessential American and also an eternal teenager” said creative director, Humberto Leon (Morrill, 2018).

Chance, the rapper, became the face of Kenzo during the H&M collaboration in 2016 (Hsieh, 2016). Shots for the campaign were taken by French photographer, graphic designer and director Jean-Paul Goude. This campaign is Kenzo’s vision of the future where fashion fantasy might be able to do something for social realities (Hsieh, 2016).

EXHIBITIONS

Fashion in Motion: This is a series of live fashion shows at the V&A Museum that feature leading fashion designers. Kenzo hosted a day of catwalk shows featuring designs from the label’s archive in the V&A Museum (Goss, 2022)

Kenzo Parfum x William Amor, 2019 - A universal message organised by Kenzo, engaging consumers from a physical and digital scope. Kenzo and William Amor organised a charity sale of poppies for Christmas and New Year holidays (KENZO HAPPENINGS | Kenzo Parfums, 2022)

Kenzo Summer Party 2019 - Celebrating summer, Kenzo Perfume organised a poppy party in Madrid. Using the “#MYKENZOEAUDEVIE 2019” to promote this event (KENZO HAPPENINGS | Kenzo Parfums, 2022).

June 21 Kenzo Celebrations - Kenzo Perfume celebrates with a music festival and the arrival of summer by hosting a party for city dwellers since 2016. An urban scene in the midst of a poppy field, highlighting young musical groups sought out and selected by the Kenzo Parfum community. Locations have varied from Dauphine, Berlin and Rome (KENZO HAPPENINGS | Kenzo Parfums, 2022).

Poppy Fields, 2001 - 2009. Beaubourg, Moscow, Mexico, Brussels and Hong Kong were able to witness poppy fields that were planted to symbolise sharing, harmony and peace (KENZO HAPPENINGS | Kenzo Parfums, 2022).

Grace to the Nth Power - a virtual exhibition hosted by Kenzo, showcasing their 2014 Fall/Winter pre-collection. The exhibition was conceived as a futuristic treasure hunt. Visitors were able to use a smartphone to explore the interactive 3D spaces on a dedicated platform. A series of video installations unfolded, featuring models Grace Bol and Sang Woo Kim as art thieves. Wearing creations by Humberto Leon and Carol Lim, they moved through a crepuscular, dreamlike universe. To end it off, they visited the gallery shop, where all the pieces in the collection were able to be ordered (KENZO HAPPENINGS | Kenzo Parfums, 2022).

Kenzo London Pop-up Exhibition 2017: This pop-up exhibited a selection of images that represented the new collection through a series created with established and emerging image-makers. It was a 30-page issue featuring images of the Kenzo Spring collection, inspired by culture and traditions of indigenous Igbo community (Toni, 2017).

FIDM Museum: Remembering Kenzo Takada - The FIDM Museum holds a S/S 1975 two-piece ensemble that exemplifies Takada’s design ethos: vibrant colours, cotton fabric, full skirt, and a loose wrap top with a tie closure. Another ensemble in the “Study Collection”, a black acrylic/mohair knitted sweater and skirt; shows Takada’s skill with knits – a staple in his early collections. He honed his knitting techniques while working at Relations Textiles during his early Paris days. Though he was renowned for his dexterity with colour, Takada did feature black and white designs as an homage to the theatricality and stark contrasts of Kabuki costumes (Remembering Kenzo Takada, 2021).

Kenzo Takada Painting Exhibition: The exhibition hosts 8 self portraits painted by Kenzo Takada. The paintings shown at the Studio 55 gallery, feature the designer in a series of flower-printed kimonos that recall the kinds of prints his label is known for (A, 2010).

Kenzo Event Store in Paris: The concept store was designed by Fabrizio Casiraghi to showcase KENZO’s seasonal Fall/Winter and Spring/Summer collections as well as its “La Collection Memento” line as well as their accessories (B, 2017).

PUBLICATIONS

Kenzo: Fashion Memoir by Ginette Saiuderichin - “The series captures the designer’s style and contribution to fashion history. A master of prints and layering, Kenzo is also a musician of colour, multiplying its combinations, liberating and purifying its form. This book is a showcase for his bright and optimistic designs (Ginette, 1999).

Kenzo Takada by Chihiro Masui - An exclusive look book of hand coloured sketches and personal photographs from the archives of Kenzo (Takada, 2021).

Kenzine Vol 2 - Kenzine is the exciting collaboration between the magazine Toiletpaper and the Parisian clothing line Kenzo (Toiletpaper Shop, 2021).

Kenzo Hardcover by Antonio Marras - The book celebrates the house’s 40th anniversary with more than 300 pages of illustrations, personal accounts from designers and journalists Along with pop-up pages commemorating its past, present and future (Marras, 2010). . Kenzo Folio - The first edition of Kenzo Folio, a quarterly publication by fashion house, Kenzo (Kenzo Folio, 2017).

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PRESS

Kenzo News on their website - Nigo named Artistic Director of Maison (KENZO Nigo’s appointment, 2022).

AP News - Kenzo’s first fashion show under NIGO. ( Kenzo returns to Japanese roots in history-making moment, 2022).

PR Week x Kenzo - Kenzo Fashion brand has hired GBH Communications to promote their images and goods in the United Kingdom (Ellery, 2014).

Mathieu Baboulène was appointed as worldwide press and public relations director for Kenzo (Kenzo Names Worldwide P.R. Director, 2019).

Notable interviews:

CNN Style x Kenzo Takada (Bateman, 2019) L’Officiel x A tribute to Kenzo Takada - contains interview pieces with the late designer (Sullivan, 2021). Schön x Kenzo Takada - Personal interview (Schön, 2019). WWD X Nigo - Interview with the newly appointed designer (Socha, 2022)

VISUAL MERCHANDISING REFERENCES

KENZO STORE IN MILANO

The store in Milano is considered to be one of the flagship stores of the brand. In regards to visual merchandising, it is minimal in colour, using predominantly white. The store uses an excessive amount of lighting in order to enhance the colour of the garments. The store is very clean regarding the colour, and adding some details with the use of black and silver, introducing a futuristic perspective. The window displays that Kenzo usually portray are very playful and creative, especially in the Milano store. The images below show the different styles captured through time.

KENZO & PRINTEMPS

Kenzo has been doing multiple window displays for printemps. This one featured below was specifically for the launch of an experimental Pop-Up Store as a temporary exhibition for 6 weeks (G, 2016). The shop included a selfie booth and the use of iBeacon technology (G, 2016) . The French brand created a graphic and surreal backdrop with giant mannequins emerging from mirrors, copying the advertising campaign for the brand created by David Lynch. Kenzo and Printemps created an app that included a treasure hunt with cards scattered around the site, that when found, created dazzling special effects on tablets and for consumers to stand a chance to win a sweater (G, 2016).

SPRING/ SUMMER 22 LAUNCH NIGO DEBUT COLLECTION VM

The red is a dominant colour within the store, matching perfectly with the logo. The furniture is very minimal in a large, open space, highlighting the garments in the store. They have portrayed a small window display with a selected number of garments.

Furniture includes rugs, mannequins, decorative tables that are representative of the poppy flower from the Boke Flower capsule (Silbert, 2022).

DIGITAL: OWNED , EARNED, PAID

OWNED MEDIA

Overall Kenzo is currently going through a rebranding with the appointment of the new creative director, Nigo. Due to this current rebranding that the brand is going through, it is difficult to define how the brand is performing. It is clear however, that the brand needs to update its communication.