Japanese fashion designer Kenzo Takada, founder of the brand Kenzo, died of COVID-19 on Sunday. Takada was 81. He was the first Japanese designer to make a mark on the Paris fashion scene and was known for his jungle-infused designs and free-spirited aesthetic channelled from his travels. He founded the luxury brand Kenzo, which is owned by LVMH since 1993. The brand’s spokesperson announced Kenzo’s death. Known more commonly by his first name, Kenzo was the first male student in the all-female fashion institute Bunka.
Born in Himeji near Osaka, he was fascinated by fashion after reading about it in his sisters’ fashion magazines. Kenzo was known for his use of bright colours, flowers and jungle prints, a far cry from prim and proper designs in Paris’s fashion scene. Kenzo was famous not only for his clothes but also for a global brand of perfume and skin products. At the time of his death, he was acting honorary president of the Asian Couture Federation.
Kenzo had retired from fashion in 1999 to pursue a career in art. Kenzo’s death comes merely days after the brand showcased a bee-themed collection at the Paris Fashion Week. The event, which is a mixture of physical as well as digital shows, began on September 25 and will end on October 6. Kenzo, who championed a youthful aesthetic, was known to use wider sleeves and armholes, inspired from styles from his home continent of Asia. In interviews, Kenzo had said that Yves Saint Laurent was an important inspiration for his work.
"His amazing energy, kindness, talent and smile were contagious," AP quoted Kenzo artistic director Felipe Oliveira Baptista as saying.
