Kenzo

Born: Kenzo Takada in Kyoto,Japan on February 28, 1940. He was the son of hotel keepers and began his fashion career in Tokyo, designing patterns for a magazine. Kenzo started as a designer of "poor-boy-style skinny sweaters" which were thought of as "ingenious knits." During the 1960's he arrived to Paris and started off by selling sketches, and doing freelance work for several of Feraud's collections. In 1970 he opened his own boutique and decorated it with jungle patterns naming it "jungle jap" which portrayed a cultural diversity, for what he is mostly known for. Due to the lack of money in the beginning of his career, Kenzo created his first collection all from cotton, and much of it quilted and he also used photographic mannequins instead of real life regular models. This, to his surprise was considered innovative and also began a new trend. His inspirations at the time were different cultures and he believed mixing patterns from diverse cultures made the different cultures unite. Throughout time his designs have been widely distributed in the United States, in freestanding shops and in-store boutiques. Kenzo prefers to view fashion as an adventure of continuous creativity, besides anything else.  

Kizoa slideshow: kenzo - Slideshow

       "It pleases me when people say i have influence, but i am influenced by the world that says i influence it, the world i live in is my influence" states Kenzo. He has become an iconic figure for the fashion world because of his initiative and passion for creating diversity and integrity come together in his designs. He is one of the mos radical designers of his time and is considered a "wunderkind" and a celebrity from the 70's fashion. Mixing styles from all over the world and combining them into a peaceful internationalism, he has for more than twenty years become the most prominent traveler of fashion and also the most multicultural and syncretistic in the fashion world. In all of his designs he insists mainly on the diversity and compatibility of different styles, ethnicity and cultures from all around the world.

       Kenzo has always been innovative and an originator of fresh new ideas, which makes him an important fashion icon that will last throughout history and time. His designs were not directly influenced by past designers, but mainly by the American popular culture, paintings, calligraphy, and of course diversity. Traveling for influences, he believes just jeopardizes his imagination and his traveling. He is very much the prototype of the "young designer" the one with a sense of humor towards fashion and a lively curiosity for clothing itself, he creates a prodigious continuing talent. His color palettes have always been vibrant, filled with different color combinations, reflecting diverse ethnicity and different patterns. His work very much reflects the zeitgeist from the internet era because he is very innovative and he has created an ability to digest many style traits and achieve powerful composites.

His art and life have captured the popular imagination of fashion and innovation. His sense of exuberance, and creativity has marked Kenzo for more than two decades. He has influenced fashion over all because of his great use of cultural diversity in his garments. In the 90's his company became  LVMH's (Moet Hennessey Louis Vuitton) second largest fashion house after Louis Vuitton itself. And even after his retirement Kenzo brand continues to grow, making in 2001 its very own children line, he says "if anyone is willing to pay $1,000 for a suit, they wont mind buying 3-4 items from the same brand for their children." He has brought initiative and global creativity to the fashion world and has left for us the thought of combining cultures to make diversity something positve for new designers to think about. 

Martin, Richard and Lisa Groshong “Kenzo” gale power search. 2002. 25 August 2011 <http://go.galegroup.com/ps/retrieve.do?sgHitCountType=None&sort=RELEVANCE&inPS=true&prodId=GPS&userGroupName=fashionidm&tabID=T001&searchId=R1&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&contentSegment=&searchType=BasicSearchForm&currentPosition=1&contentSet=GALE|CX3401400235&&docId=GALE|CX3401400235&docType=GALE&role>

Price, Holly, and Anne Stegmeyer Who's who in fashion fifth edition New York, NY: Fairchild books, 2010