Kenzo Takada - The first Japanese to build a fashion empire in Paris

Although Kenzo Takada initially intended to stay in Paris for only six months, he ended up living there for 56 years, and his work opened doors not only for Japanese designers, but also created an aesthetic that combined East and West and influenced an entire generation.

Paris Dream

Born in Himeji, Japan in 1939, Kenzo Takada was the son of a hotelier. From a young age, Takada was inspired by fashion design after reading his sister's fashion magazines. Although he studied literature at Kobe University to please his parents, Takada later dropped out and enrolled at Bunka Fashion College in Tokyo, unabashedly becoming one of the school's first male students.

Fashion designer Kenzo Takada in his studio in Paris in 2009. Photo: AFP

Deep down, Takada always dreamed of going to Paris - one of the fashion capitals of the world.

In 1960, he won the Soen Prize, awarded by Japan's prestigious Soen fashion magazine, and began his career designing girls' clothes for the Sanai fashion chain. But deep down, Takada always dreamed of going to Paris - one of the fashion capitals of the world. The 1964 Olympics finally gave Takada the chance to go to Europe. The building he was renting was being repossessed to make way for a stadium. They compensated him with 10 months' rent - enough money to buy a boat ticket to Marseille.

However, lost in the cold and gloomy Paris winter with little money in his pocket, the ambitious young man Takada suddenly felt "disillusioned" when he set foot in the "West". But he did not give up and was determined to make his dream come true by any means...

Conquering the fashion capital

Paris fashion in the 1960s was dominated by established houses like Dior and Chanel. Even Yves Saint Laurent was a newcomer to the French fashion scene. The designs were aristocratic and aimed squarely at the elite of Parisian haute couture. Kenzo Takada began working as a freelance designer, selling sketches to designers like Louis Feraud to pay for his living and rent. Years of working with drawings, fabrics and cottons gave Takada a wealth of experience.

Mr. Takada at the presentation of the Fall-Winter 1998-1999 fashion collection in Paris. Photo: Getty

In 1970, when he felt he was “ripe”, he opened his first store in the Galerie Vivienne shopping mall. “With a few friends, for three months, we painted jungle scenes on the walls and called it Jungle Jap,” Kenzo Takada recalled in an interview with the New York Times. The first fashion store, Jungle Jap (short for Jungle Japan), was also the name of his first fashion show. At that event, among the 20 invited guests was the editor-in-chief of Elle magazine, who was so excited by Kenzo’s collection that he put one of his unique, innovative designs on the cover.

Overnight, Kenzo became a household name in the media and Paris fashion scene.

Overnight, Kenzo became a household name in the media and Paris fashion scene. Shortly after, Kenzo’s off-the-shoulder tops, loose dresses, pleated skirts and many other stylized outfits were featured in Vogue magazine (USA). Kenzo officially presented his collection in New York and Tokyo in 1971.

Bold, unusual patterns were a key factor in Takada’s early success. “Floral patterns were widely used in kimono and textiles in Japan – a powerful symbol of nature in art,” he says. “But floral fabrics were rarely used in haute couture at the time.” Takada gambled on bold ideas: incorporating floral patterns and kimono details into his collections. In the end, the Japanese designer won, with puffed-sleeve blouses and pleated trousers creating youthful, form-fitting outfits that were enthusiastically received by Parisian fashionistas.

Floral motifs are a hallmark of Kenzo's designs. Photo: Getty

From then on, Kenzo's main direction seemed to be clearly defined as "high-end street fashion". He created a revolution for the Paris fashion industry with small but trendy changes, from beautiful products, easy to buy and easy to penetrate the hearts of people. Fashion lovers in the 1970s were slowly fascinated by Kenzo with designs that harmonized classic Asian style with modern European elegance.

“Kenzo Takada has brought into fashion a gentle, poetic melody and sweet freedom..."

Bernard Arnault - Chairman and CEO of LVMH

In the 1970s, the business grew, making Kenzo the first Japanese designer to build an international brand. The Kenzo fashion brand quickly rose to compete with famous names such as Chanel or Dior. President of the French Haute Couture Federation Ralph Toledano commented that designer Kenzo Takada "contributed to writing a new page in the history of fashion about the intersection of East and West". And Bernard Arnault - Chairman and CEO of LVMH commented: "Kenzo Takada brought to fashion a gentle, poetic melody and sweet freedom, inspiring many designers after him".

Indeed, what Kenzo has shown over the years - from the first Memento collection introduced in autumn/winter 2017 to the third Memento - has restored the original Kenzo spirit from the days when Takada was still diligently working on each stitch in Sanai. KenzoTakada left his fashion design career in 1999, 6 years after selling the Kenzo brand to LVMH - the world's largest luxury goods group. However, Takada still maintains close ties with the fashion world in many different ways.

Kenzo Takada at his home in Paris in 2019. Photo: Getty

Fashion "king" Kenzo passed away exactly 50 years after he launched his first collection in Paris, the place he considered his second home, the land that helped him realize his dream of "borderless fashion".

“A designer with great talent who brought color and light to fashion in the most authentic way,” Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo wrote on Twitter. “Paris today mourns one of its sons,” Hidalgo wrote.