Kenzo Takada, the iconic French-Japanese fashion designer famed for his bold, expressive, and playful approach to haute couture, has died. He was 81.
Key points:
- Takada grew his Kenzo fashion house from humble beginnings in the 1960s
- His garments blended Western and Asian aesthetics in an era where that was rare
- He has been remembered by colleagues as kind and playful
His family said in a statement to French media on Sunday (local time) the Kenzo founder died from complications from COVID-19 in a hospital in Neuilly-sur-Seine, near Paris.
Ben Mazey, New Zealand-born design director of Kenzo from 2012-19, told the ABC that Takada was "delightfully free of ego".
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"His muses were waitresses, dancers, and the girls that worked in the shops.
"He was so celebratory and I think that joy was infectious."
Takada's death came at the tail end of Paris Fashion Week, whose nine-day calendar is undertaking an unusual fashion season for spring-summer 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic.
It was only days ago that Kenzo unveiled its bee-themed collection in the French capital.
While Takada had been retired from fashion since 1999, the designer remains one of the most respected figures of French fashion.
From humble beginnings to Vogue
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Takada was born on February 27, 1939, in Himeji, in the Hyogo Prefecture in Japan to hoteliers, but after reading his sisters' fashion magazines his love of fashion began.
After studying at the Bunka College of Fashion in Tokyo, Takada had a brief stint working in Japan before relocating to Paris in 1965 to work as a freelance designer.
In Paris, he took over a boutique in 1970 which crystallised his future ready-to-wear aesthetic and was inspired in its decoration by the jungle scenes of painter Henri Rousseau, which he merged with Asian styles.
But it began with lowly beginnings: In a 2019 interview with the South China Morning Post (SCMP), Takada said his first years in Paris were spent in "a tiny room that only cost nine francs per day" with a shared bathroom.
His first collection at the store was made entirely out of cotton because he had little money.
"My big break was when Elle put one of my looks on the cover, and then my show in 1971, when international editors started to come."
"So I did things my own way in order to be different, and I used kimono fabrics and other influences."
This later became influential.
A short time later, he pioneered shoulder forms, large armholes, dungarees, smock tent dresses and innovative shoulder shapes, and his store was featured in US Vogue.
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His eponymous label was later acquired by French luxury conglomerate Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy (LVMH) in 1993 for a reported $US80 million ($111.3 million).
In the years since, the label has come under different creative guises, with the stewardship of Humberto Leon and Carol Lim — founders of revered New York label Opening Ceremony — modernising the brand over the last decade.
Of this shift, Takada told the SCMP he was "proud to see young people wearing Kenzo all the time, especially Asians, all over the world."
Felipe Oliveira Baptista, Kenzo's current creative director, said that Takada's energy "was contagious".
ABC/AP
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMia2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvbmV3cy8yMDIwLTEwLTA1L2tlbnpvLWZvdW5kZXIta2Vuem8tdGFrYWRhLWRpZXMtZnJvbS1jb3ZpZC0xOS1jb21wbGljYXRpb25zLzEyNzMyMDI40gEnaHR0cHM6Ly9hbXAuYWJjLm5ldC5hdS9hcnRpY2xlLzEyNzMyMDI4?oc=5
2020-10-05 03:16:00Z
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