Last season, Kenzo artistic director Nigo leaned more fully into the brand founder Kenzo Takada’s legacy, presenting the collection in the designer’s home—a Japanese oasis in the heart of Paris—where he lived for more than 15 years. As my ever-astute colleague Luke Leitch observed at the time: “Change in the air at Kenzo.”
Back at the showroom on rue Vivienne, today’s visit offered even more change afoot—in ways that are freshly bridging past and future. Most notably and meaningfully, the brand has revived Takada’s actual signature. Those of a certain age may remember when he would write and sign his show invitations, and that same fluid, cursive “Kenzo” now emblazons slingbacks and patch pockets alike. Reminding us of “the hand behind the house,” as a rep explained, this signature joins a clever monogram—two Ks back-to-back—that debuted last season and will become instantly identifiable whether solo or repeated.
But there was more than updated branding on view. From a hooded jean jacket to lived-in workwear ensembles and remixed varsity standbys, the clothes possessed a coolness that could be attributed to Nigo’s influence in a more relaxed and wearable register. Letterman jackets came in different degrees of Americana and Parisian signalling; ikat-inspired flowers dotted both denim and a great transitional windbreaker; and officer jackets for men and collarless jackets for women highlighted how tailoring can assume different and versatile forms.
One of the sub-seasons—there will be three drops in October, November and March—was meant to signal Nigo’s passion for ceramics and focused on textures, craft elements and earthy tones (his hand-thrown creations are currently on view as part of a retrospective at the Design Museum in London). And for all the wintery puffers and cozy knits, many of the items were seasonless, such as a great fireman jacket with metal closures and lighter layers in pastel hickory stripes.
Other talking points: the “jumping tiger” motif in yellow and black and depicted in profile, as well as an archival “Kenzo Work & Play” logo, which, come to think of it, sums up the overall attitude to this first pre-collection since Nigo signed on in 2021. Between the denim shapes and treatments—as though interpreted from his own archives—an everyday Kenzo Rush sneaker and new nylon Kenzo Janguru bags, there are suddenly more entry points into the brand that are worth rediscovering. Word is, rather than a show during men’s fashion week, Kenzo is planning a variety of activations that will be worth discovering, too.
