“There were flower designs that I had under no circumstances witnessed in advance of. Good things that just didn’t get repeated as the brand moved into its greater, let’s say more prosperous section. A large amount of the early shapes were being incredibly experimental in a way that wasn’t going on so significantly in the brand name in the ’80s,” he says. “I observed some of these strategies to be attention-grabbing way too.”
For his drop 2022 debut, flower prints and some of Takada’s very own sketches from the 1970s are recreated on clothes and accessories. Other ideas from the Kenzo archive, like Harris tweed tailoring and shawl-satisfies-snood collars, are re-introduced, while Nigo’s very own obsessions like Ivy League design and style and Aka-e pottery seem as motifs. The silhouette is unbelievably layered, not only literally, but with references that bridge East-West cultures. Numerous parts reference the construction of a kimono. “The stylist had tied it up in a variety of reasonable way to tie together two straps, but to me, it just felt absolutely completely wrong. In demonstrating all people how to do this thing that will come from classic Japanese clothes at that minute, I was just like, ‘Yeah alright, I’m truly Japanese,’” he says with a smile. “I think that there are not so quite a few people today who have an understanding of what Kenzo implies in conditions of clothing—that’s what I want to emphasis on and deliver people’s focus to during my time at the label.”
Nigo in front of Kenzo’s ateliers in Paris’s second arrondissement
Photographed by Acielle / StyleDuMondeIn this article he touches on anything that, even if some of the intonation was dropped in translation, feels like a barb to the way the fashion program, and primarily its marketing and advertising arm, is effective now. “The objective for me at Kenzo—but I assume in theory it should be the aim for anyone in fashion—is for the principal collection that I’m placing most of my imaginative electricity into to be the point that is, even in professional conditions, the core driver of the enterprise and the issue that persons are most fascinated in,” he suggests. Not collaborations. Not drops. Not the fanfare or the superstars or buzz. “We are coming into a period of time when the primary collection is some kind of history,” he carries on, “and it truly is only the collaborations that make any fascination or provide, which, to me, feels like very a lot the completely wrong approach.” This from the guy who proficiently pioneered the collaboration in vogue, bringing KAWS and Futura into the manner planet and extending his individual access into merchandise layout and cafés in Japan.
