KENZOLOGY: the study of an evolutionary wardrobe cultivated from the bridge-building perspective of a Japanese designer in Paris. The KENZO Spring-Summer 2025 Women’s and Men’s Collection reinforces and refines the culturally interwoven language developed by Nigo at the Maison. Staged on the golden soil of the Palais-Royal - a location dear to the heart of the Artistic Director - it is a natural florescence of the cross-pollination found at the core of KENZO: a stylistic ecosystem nurtured by Nigo’s creative exchange with the archives of Kenzo Takada, the dress codes of their shared Japanese heritage, and the Parisian spirit of the Maison. Cultured by time, the expression unfolds in silhouettes, constructions and techniques that become entirely their own, rendered in the vibrant colours of origami paper across re-imagined adaptations of archival motifs. In his second creative exchange with KENZO, the Japanese graphic artist Verdy - a long-time friend of Nigo - applies his animated signature to the Maison’s iconography. The show’s soundtrack was produced by WhoJiggi with additional co-production by Ero, Jaystolaa and Sekai.
Silhouettes
The women’s silhouette cuts a relaxed line in garments sophisticated in construction but effortless in practice. Reinvigorating archival ideas, draped scarf dresses with fringing are interpreted in casual fabrications alongside contrast-colour wrap dresses, skirts and tops adapted from the obi, and over-dimensional skirts nipped at the waist. Inspired in cut by hanjuban - kimono undergarments - denim increases in sensuality, while outerwear imbued with kimono sleeves exudes an elegance likewise expressed in elongated crocheted evening dresses. Menswear approaches everyday archetypal garments with an East-West sensibility in sporty outerwear infused with oriental lines, relaxed four-button tailoring, silhouettes derived from the fisherman’s wardrobe, and baggy satin trousers informed by the tobi-shoku worn by Japanese scaffolders.
Themes and motifs
A vivid KENZO Peonies pattern reimagines an archive print of Kenzo Takada’s favourite flower in faded fluo colourways alongside a delicate KENZO Jungle Flower motif. Inspired by traditional ink-wash paintings from the archive, a KENZO Paris Jungle landscape pictures the French capital overtaken by nature, with the Eiffel Tower surrounded by dragonflies and tigers. A KENZO Chiku-rin Camo is created in the image of Japanese bamboo forests in purple, green and lime nuances. The KENZO Weave pattern informed by Hikeshi baten fireman’s jackets evolves in tonal grey and blue. Dragonflies - an ancient Japanese symbol of the refusal to retreat in the face of adversity - appear throughout the collection. Portrayed through the spirited lens of the Japanese graphic artist Verdy, the emblems of KENZO - the tiger, the elephant, the boke - feature in ready-to-wear and bags.
Credits :
Production by Back of the House
Show music produced by WhoJiggi, additional co-production from Ero, Jaystolaa, and Sekai
Content production by Kitten
Styling by IB Kamara
Casting by Mischa Notcutt for 11 casting
Make up by Lucy Bridge and the Make Up For Ever team
Hair by Virginie Moreira & the Jean Louis David team using ghd tools
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23 июн 2024
