Kenzo releases the first Collection under Artistic Director Nigo, and People are Lining Up

Kenzo has unveiled its first collection under new Artistic Director Nigo. On January 24, Nigo officially took over the reins from Felipe Oliveira Baptista as Kenzo’s Creative Director with his debut collection titled, “REAL-TO-WEAR.” Nigos Fall/ Winter Women’s and Men’s Show makes him the first Japanese designer to front the house since its founder Kenzo Takada.

Nigo’s first designs for the label feature comfortable wardrobe classics, like crewneck sweatshirts and jersey cardigans, adorned with a graphic flower print and Kenzo’s new label. “In homage to Kenzo Takada, each drop revolves around the idea of elements key to the legacy of the founder,” the press release states. “Expanding on the form and function of these motifs, Nigo draws on the Japanese sensibility of flora and fauna as signifiers of symbols and feelings.”

Back in 1970 (the year Nigo was born) Takada presented his first fashion show in the Galerie Vivienne on the backdrop of his new shop, Jungle Jap. Five decades later, Nigo makes his own debut for Kenzo in the same arcade, “envisioning it as a tunnel toward the future and beyond the borders of fashion.”

Rather than developing a collection that is wholly street or luxurious, Nigo has taken a different path, taking the Kenzo story as his point of departure. In an interview with Vogue recently he explained, “Seeing the complete Kenzo archive, especially the early pieces from the ’70s, has kind of changed my perception about the entirety of the brand. Previously my perception of it was based very much in the 1980s designer fashion boom that I experienced when I was young in Japan.”