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Nigo's KENZO is starting to take shape after one year in charge of the House. A Quartet's string rendition of The Beatles played as the visionary's Fall/Winter 2023 designs marched through the enormous concert hall. A star-studded audience, including Tyga, Pusha T, and Pharrell, watched the labels menswear and womenswear collections emerge.
This season, Nigo investigates the parallels and differences between his world and the world of Kenzo Takada. Using the Maison's archives as a foundation, the designer combines Takada's 1980s portfolio with more recent iterations that are influenced by British, American, and Japanese street culture. The collection lets Nigo's original structures define KENZO's contemporary identity through a dialogue between conventional Japanese design codes and vintage American workwear. Additionally, it echoes the unmistakable legacy of Dame Vivienne Westwood, whose creations have a significant impact on Nigo's creative process.
Throughout the entire collection, tailoring draws inspiration from various decades: collarless tunic jackets, tapered trousers, and miniskirts recall the suiting silhouettes of the 1960s, while '80s-inspired shapes harken back to the b-boy culture of the era. While each design differs in its construction, they all take a similar tack as Nigo combines Western design principles with Japanese cultural aspects.
Oversized skirts are reminiscent of British kilts, while Y-shaped coat closures are influenced by traditional Japanese uniforms. The collection's extensive textile discussion contrasts nylon, knitwear, and jersey with British, Scottish, and Italian wools, jacquard, velvets, and fil coupé. Irish Donegal tweed is used to make cableknit sweaters, and the fair isle of the company's manifestation is a 3D-knitted, lurex-threaded explosion of colour.
In general, the collection honours diverse cultural and artisanal identities under the legacy of Kenzo Takada.
Browse KENZO at C-SQUARE HERE.
