Industry Fashion Founder Kenzō Takada | Website www.kenzo.com Founded 1970 | |
Type Société Anonyme / Subsidiary of public company Profiles | ||
Kenzo is a French luxury house founded in 1970 by Japanese designer Kenzo Takada. Kenzo Takada was born in Japan and moved to Paris in 1964 to start his fashion career. He then became known for using Asian and Japanese influenced style with the expert construction of European high fashion. He started out with a 'Jungle Jap' boutique located in Paris and decorated in jungle inspired decor. He began with handmade women's clothing, then in 1983 Kenzo started designing men and then kids and home collections in 1987. Today, it is an international luxury goods brand owned by parent company LVMH, that purchased the label in 1993.
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Background
Since 2011, The founders of Opening Ceremony, Humberto Leon and Carol Lim, are the creative directors and head designers of the brand. Their aim is to shake up the 'jungle' world of fashion. Their iconic tiger shirt and clothing has been worn by many celebrities and fashion bloggers including Beyoncé, Andy from Stylescrapbook, Jim Joquico from Fashion Chameleon, Zooey Deschanel, Swizz Beatz, Selena Gomez, Spike Jonze, Joan Smalls, Lorde, and Rihanna.
Like Kenzo in the 1970s, Humberto and Carol decide to go up against the standard expectations of seasonal trends. They are said to be highly influenced by the environment of the 21st century. They collaborate with avant-garde artists, musicians, actors, and designers each collection. Their most recent Fall 2014 collection, they collaborated with filmmaker David Lynch, who mixed the soundtrack for the show and provided a large sculpture.
Charity work
Humberto Leon and Carol Lim both grew up in California and are well aware of the issues that endanger marine life that they decided to join forces with Blue Marine Foundation to fight against overfishing and pollution. “We were eager to partner with a visionary organization that spoke about how we could live in harmony with the ocean. As we researched different charitable associations, we discovered the Blue Marine Foundation to be the perfect match. We wholeheartedly support their mission creating sustainable fishing and creating marine reserves. We are extremely excited about this long-term partnership between Kenzo and the Blue Marine Foundation and hope to create more and more awareness of this issue."
To help do so, Kenzo has launched a unisex capsule collection for their Spring/Summer 2014 collection bearing a “No fish no nothing” slogan on T-shirts and sweatshirts; all proceeds will be donated to the foundation in hoping to ensure protection of the world’s oceans. They have also put up a digital pop up store in Paris for one week from March 21 to March 27. A screen will allow the customers to browse and buy the garments, and every time a customer buys a new digital fish will enrich their digital aquarium. Also by taking a photo of the store and using the hashtag #NoFishNoNothing, will also support the cause and add a fish to the digital aquarium.