KENZO TAKADA & FLOWERS : A GREAT LOVE STORY
"Kenzo's inspiration is to be found more in floral art than in kimono", Marielle Righini, Nouvel Observateur.
If there is only one thing to remember about Kenzo Takada's legacy, it would be the way he sublimated floral motifs.
The love affair between Kenzo Takada and flowers goes back to before the House was even founded in 1970, when it was known as Jungle Jap.
When Kenzo Takada arrived in Paris in 1965, he was quickly surprised and won over by the omnipresence of vegetation in the capital. He was struck by the myriad of Parisian florists' stalls and the scents they gave off. He even discovered new floral varieties, which made him fall a little more in love with Paris.
Kenzo Takada had a remarkable olfactory memory. In particular, he remembered the scent of irises, which reminded him of the "boys' festival" (now called "children's festival"), known in Japan as "Kodomo no hi". During this event, celebrated on 5 May each year, irises were hung on the doors of houses to protect children from bad luck and illness. Little boys were immersed in iris baths, which were supposed to give them strength and prosperity. The arrival of perfume in the Maison is easier to understand when you know Kenzo Takada's acute sense of smell.
So, it was only natural that, for the opening of his second boutique on the Passage Choiseul in September 1970, he painted a fresco on the walls representing an oversized rose.
The pink peony is the symbol of the shyness of feelings.
The magnolia, symbol of strength and purity.
Flowers, again and again, punctuate his career. As a child, he was marked by the magnolia that perfumed the path to school. He is also very fond of the peony, which he considers to be the most graphic flower and which he loves to draw. As for the poppy, it made its entry into the designs in 1988. Its bright red colour was to become the Maison's emblematic colour.
The poppy is a flowering plant of the family Papaveraceae. Its Latin name is papaver rhoeas.
He loves flowers so much that in 1994 he even had fun dressing the Pont-Neuf, the oldest bridge in Paris, entirely in begonias to celebrate the arrival of summer in the capital. "A gift to Parisians", as he himself described it.
Kenzo Takada's love of flowers explains why they are an integral part of the Maison's DNA. His successors have not been mistaken, as they have been keen to incorporate floral motifs into their creations. Appointed artistic director in 2021 and a great admirer of Kenzo Takada's work for his eponymous brand, the designer Nigo was particularly interested in the boke, a Japanese flower, which can be found in many of his creations. He thus pays tribute to the founder of the Maison whose legacy lives on...