Biography of Takada Kenzo (Kenzo)

Kenzo is said to have been created "by the most European of all Japanese fashion designers." Kenzo himself is also called the "Parisian Japanese".

Takada Kenzo was born on February 27, 1939 in what is now Himeji. Kenzo was the youngest, fifth child in the family. His father owned a tea house. And the fate for his son was predetermined - he was to become a writer. But even at school, Takada Kenzo saw fashion magazine and the models of clothing that were on the pages of this magazine shook him to the core. Kenzo decided that he would definitely become a fashion designer. However, following the will of his parents, Takada enters the specialty English literature at Kobe Gaibo University. But he will not study there for a long time, and he will not receive parental consent to enter the art college in which his sister studied. Kenzo will work as a painter in Tokyo, earning money for college. And in 1958 he entered Bunka Gakuen College, one of the most prestigious fashion schools in Tokyo. Among his classmates there will be only girls who initially laughed at his choice of such a non-male profession, but then they began to appreciate and respect him, because Takada Kenzo was talented.

After graduating from college, Kenzo worked at the Sanai chain of stores, making clothes for girls. He also won the prestigious national Soen competition. But Paris, the capital of world fashion, remained the young designer's dream.

And Kenzo was "lucky", he received money for the demolition of the house in which he lived, for these funds he will go to Paris. Kenzo practically did not know French, and there was also not much money left. The first five of his models created in Paris will be bought by the wife of Louis Feraud, a well-known fashion designer. At first, Kenzo will work with several stores, he also sewed clothes for Pisanti and Relations Textiles.

And in 1970 he will find a dilapidated shop, and this is where the skills of a painter came in handy, in which he will exhibit his own clothes. This store will be named "Jungle Jap". And it is the Kenzo store that American Vogue will call a new step in the development of French fashion. The store was opened by Kenzo with his college classmate Atsuko Kondo.

In 1972, Takada Kenzo will hold his first fashion show at Orsay Station. Kenzo loved to surprise the audience, for example, he staged one of his shows in a circus tent. He also exhibited luxurious tents around the ancient castle in Bordeaux, decorated the famous Pont-Neuf bridge with tens of thousands of flower pots, covered the Victoire square with gold dust.

In 1975, Kenzo returned to Japan to show his collection. Success awaited him at home, success awaited him on the other side of the world - in New York. The 1970s are called the heyday, triumph, the most successful period for Kenzo. And his clothing during this period was often described as clothing "for the rich hippies."

In his collections, he loves a combination of bright colors and colorful patterns. Kenzo based his style on the traditional Japanese kimono, it is he who introduces sleeves - the kimono. But in his collections Kenzo also uses elements of traditional costumes from other countries, he is interested in trousers with dresses from Vietnam, fluffy Czech skirts, dresses of Spanish infants.

Since 1983, Kenzo has been involved in the production of menswear. Since 1990, they have also produced jeans, children's clothing, perfumery... Moreover, in perfumery, Kenzo's favorite motifs are flowers and leaves, it is not for nothing that his most famous fragrance was released in a bottle in the form of a leaf.

In the early 1990s, the Kenzo brand buys corporation LVMHwhich owns many brands in the fashion world. And in 1999, Takada Kenzo left the management of his own house, he left Kenzo forever, appointing Gilles Rosier as his successor, who had previously been his assistant in the field of women's clothing design.

Kenzo himself explained his departure as follows: "I want to take a year and a half to reassess values, relax, gain strength." And in 2002 Kenzo returned to the world of fashion and design. Since that time, he has worked with such brands, some of them were created by him, such as Yume, Gokan Kobo, Takada. He also created a clothing line for the La Redoute catalog.

Takada Kenzo is a knight of the French Order of Literature and Art, which he was awarded in 1984. So, albeit indirectly, he nevertheless fulfilled the wishes of his parents, he has an Order in which the very literature is mentioned.