Fashion shows: Summer & winter for women & men

Kenzo Takada’s joie de vivre and love of the unusual was often reflected in the choice of venues for his fashion shows. For example, Takada once even held a show in the infamous “Studio 54” nightclub. However, the fashion designer stopped designing long before his death. Kenzo Takada died after he was infected with the corona virus.

He told Vogue magazine that his work has always been about freedom and harmony, and that he wants to be remembered as a designer who crossed boundaries. Meanwhile, Felipe Oliveira Baptista is responsible for designing the collections. Check out the different collections of the men’s and women’s line of the house in the videos below.

Summer: fashion show in Paris

Some of the models wear large hats with protective nets that cover their faces, which is strongly reminiscent of the clothing of a beekeeper. No wonder – the collection is based on the film “Contagion than Honeyland”, a documentary about the extinction of bees. Despite all this, the fashion show sparkles with optimism as it takes place in a beautiful garden. The collection is colorful and bright, like flowers pollinated by bees. Nothing else would be expected from Kenzo.

Winter: Collection fashion film

This is not a fashion show in the classical sense, but a small film. The models dance, run and jump around in a round room. The white floor and black walls are in stark contrast to the colorful clothes. This collection is the first collection created after the death of Kenzo Takada.

Dismayed by this terrible event, Felipe Oliveira Baptista looked at garments from past collections and photographed them in motion. The pieces were taken apart and patched back together, worn backwards and more. He wanted to use colors and patterns for the collection that reflected the values that Kenzo Takada held dear: freedom, joy, diversity, love of nature, and harmoniously uniting opposites. The result is definitely something to be proud of.

Sportswear: Kenzo Sport inspires all

The line “Kenzo Sports” was launched only in 2020 and, as the name suggests, specializes in high-quality sportswear. When designing sportswear, Felipe Oliveira Baptista focuses on a combination of elegance and comfort. He also pays attention to functionality and making sure that the pieces have something gender-neutral about them, so that they can be easily worn by either gender. The logo of Kenzo Sports is the brand name in the shape of a big X.

Summer Kenzo Sports: fashion film

The latest Kenzo Sport collection was also presented in the form of a short film. The models demonstrate their acrobatic talent by performing various gymnastic exercises and also show how stylish you can look while doing sports. It makes you feel motivated to start your own workout.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4P8nwCmD9s

Collaborations: H&M, Vans and WWF

Kenzo has already collaborated with many well-known brands. These include the fashion house “H&M”, the skater brand “Vans”, and the animal welfare organization “WWF”. For the campaign for the collaboration with “H&M” were photographed, among others, the model Iman and the music Chance The Rapper. Less star-studded, but no less vivid, are the following commercials for the collaborations with “Vans” and “WWF”.

Commercial: Kenzo x Vans

In this commercial, the collection is not presented by models, but by real skaters from Los Angeles. See their stunts on the halfpipe, dressed in Kenzo clothing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVOGcTG5vwI

Commercial: Kenzo x WWF

This collaboration serves a good cause, which is very important to the House of Kenzo. Tigers are threatened with extinction, which is why the WWF has made it its goal to help double the number of tigers by 2022. With this collection Kenzo wants to support the company in its project, after all, the tiger is also the logo of the brand. For every piece sold, Kenzo will donate US$10.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVm_V6COJrc

Fragrances: Kenzo perfumes as stars of the brand

In 1988, the first perfume “Kenzo” came on the market and since then over 100 different men’s and women’s fragrances belong to the brand. Kenzo is often inspired by nature in the creation of its fragrances. This is also seen in the fragrances “Flower” and “Kenzo Homme”.

Women’s fragrance: Flower

The star of the commercial for the perfume “Flower” is the South Korean actress Kim TaeRi, who is known from the film “Pickpocket”. You can see not only the pretty face of Kim TaeRi, but also a red poppy whose blossom is about to open. The actress’ lips are made up in a similar red as that of the flower. Just as the poppy opens its blossoms, the actress opens her briefly closed eyes again before casting a slightly sad look at the camera. This is to symbolize both strength and fragility. This is exactly what the perfume should express!

Men: Kenzo Homme

Entrepreneur Orin Hardy, who has lived in Bali since a young age, has launched a very special project: “Bamboo U”. Orin Hardy wants to show designers, architects, and engineers how they can use bamboo to turn their creative ideas into reality. What makes bamboo so special? Bamboo is a very rapidly renewable resource and must be harvested continuously. This makes bamboo a sustainable and environmentally friendly substitute for wood. Since Kenzo supports the project, this commercial shows Orin Hardy at work. “Kenzo for a beautiful world,” it says at the beginning of the video. Bottle is made in the shape of a bamboo style and the fragrance itself is inspired by the scent of the sea and bamboo.

Documentation: Kenzo Takada

For those who want to know more about Kenzo Takada, his philosophy, and his career, here is another documentary. It was created by the “Fashion Industry Broadcast” in honor of the recently deceased designer. The documentary is filled with interesting details from Takada’s personal and professional life. The viewer learns how the Japanese-born designer managed to turn his small Parisian boutique called “Jungle Jap” into the world-renowned multimillion-dollar company “Kenzo”.

The Fabricant?

Yesterday I spoke with a creative manager of a major sneaker brand. I talked briefly about the interview we just did on the topic of VR (Virtual Avatars: Creator Interview). That same evening were the About You Awards. On the red carpet: Bill Kaulitz and Noonoouri, one of the most successful virtual influencers.

This brought us to new trends and hypes. He (Creative Arts, sneaker brand) made me aware of this Dutch company:

The Fabricant

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQyX369RZ90

The Creator about himself

Their mission is to “lead the fashion industry towards a new sector”. In doing so, they focus on pure, digital clothing. Fashion that wastes nothing but data and uses imagination instead of expensive resources.

Through this digital clothing, “The Fabricant”, by its own admission, returns to the heart of what fashion has always been and what it should be:

“A playful arena to explore and express our identities and individuality.”

The future of fashion is “collaborative, creative, inclusive and sustainable. In pure digital fashion, people are not passive consumers, but creative actors who shape their self-expression and curate their virtual identity through digital clothing, without the negative footprint.”

All that’s missing now is the right app to create your own virtual avatars.

Years of development

The first fashion pieces were already animated in 2016.

Virtual Fashion: The Long Way (2016) – Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vINc2f1nBN4

Puma FW21 / The Fabricant – Video

Today they work with brands like Puma on new ideas for the fashion world. Puma x CSM FW21 collection in collaboration with The Fabricant. The video would only be extremely costly to produce without VR. So no garment would ever be touched and no video team had to fly around the world.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhBv6JehLqk

Napapijri SS21 / The Fabricant – Video

Also with Napapijri new has emerged. The Italian streetwear brand Napapijri also wanted to create a purely digital video of the brand. This is how in-store shoppers get inspired during the sales pitch. “The Fabricant” digitized several key looks and individual garments for a variety of channels.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKfvxtuJOKA

Kerry Murphy of The Fabricant: Fashiontech

Kerry Murphy of “The Fabricant” talks about digital fashion for virtual identities during #FASHIONTECH Berlin, already in July 2019, at Festsaal Kreuzberg.

The real and the virtual world are merging more and more, like here at the making-of of the first photo shoot of Shudu, today one of the biggest virtual models.