Goodbye Kenzo, the Japanese designer of 'flower power' dies - Lifestyle

Japanese designer

.

"He passed away on Sunday, October 4, 2020 at the American Hospital in Neuilly-sur-Seine," a spokesperson announced in a statement.

    Kenzo was the first Japanese designer to settle in Paris, where he developed his entire career reaching international fame. 

Born in the Japanese prefecture of Hyogo in 1939, fifth of seven children, after attending the Bunka Gakuen fashion school in Tokyo, in 1965 Kenzo moved to Paris where he attended the Cardin, Dior, Chanel fashion shows and collaborated, among others, with the fashion house Feraud and the magazine Jardin des modes.

In 1970 he opened the

boutique

, his first shop in the Ville Lumiere, and creates his own brand, Kenzo.

In his original creations, shapes and designs borrowed from the Japanese tradition blend with the European style and with the culture of metropolises like New York.

He interprets '

with jungle prints and references to the symbolism of nature, revolutionizing the taste of the 70s and 80s.

The collections for women and men were added in 1977 by that for children and, since 1988, a line of perfumes.

The Kenzo brand since 1980 has become a company (chaired by F. Baufumé) purchased in 1993 by LVMH Arnault, who was the creative director until 1999, since 2000 it has been replaced by the Scandinavian designer R. Krejberg.

Paris immediately loved the Japanese designer Kenzo Takada, who became the master of Flower Power in the seventies, the floral prints that the designer mixed in an explosion of colors with camouflage patterns.

A love born in 1965, the year in which the young Kenzo, fifth of seven children, born in 1939 in the Japanese prefecture of Hyogo, decided to settle in the Ville Lumiere, after graduating from the Bunka Gakuen fashion school, in Tokyo, which it had just opened to men.

Paris bewitched by the colorful magic of Kenzo, had immediately opened the doors of the fashion shows to him, the first Japanese designer to conquer the Parisian catwalks, at a time when the names on the calendar were Pierre Cardin, Dior, Chanel.

In Paris Kenzo lived and worked and died at the age of 81, dying at the Neuilly-sur-Seine hospital due to Coronavirs.

The beginning of Kenzo's official career is in 1970, the year in which he presents his first collection in the Galerie Vivienne, but not before having collaborated with the French maison Feraud and with the magazine Jardin des modes.

Thanks to the success achieved, Kenzo will be able to open its first Jungle Jap boutique.

Shortly thereafter, a model dressed in Kenzo will appear on the cover of Elle.

In 1971 his collections are presented in New York and Tokyo and the following year the designer will obtain the coveted Fashion Editor Club of Japan award.

The peak of success is in the seventies.

In 1978 and 1979

.

At

same time,

, in particular for Rˆve après Rˆve from 1980. In 1977 he launched a

.

In 1983 a men's clothing line arrives and since 1998 he signs a license for perfumes.

The most successful fragrance is undoubtedly

, launched in 2000. Since 2001, body care products have been followed under the Kenzoki brand.

, replaced by the Scandinavian designer R.Kreiberg.

in the same year he leaves the creative direction of the brand he founded.

In 2002 he will reappear on the scene as an interior designer, launching a line of furnishing accessories and furniture.

Currently at the creative guide of the maison is the Portuguese designer Felipe Oliveira Baptista, creative director of Kenzo since 2019, who succeeded the duo Carol Lim and Humberto Leon.

In his last show in Paris a few days ago, the mosquito net hats starred in the new SS 2021 women's and men's collection.

An omen, or perhaps just a form of reminder to protect oneself from the virus even with clothing.