Kenzo Takada was born in Japan and moved to Paris in 1964 to start his fashion career.[3] He then became known for using Asian and Japanese influenced style with the construction of European fashion. He started with a \'Jungle Jap\' boutique located at Galerie Vivienne and decorated in jungle inspired interior. He began with handmade women\'s clothing; reportedly, he made his first collection with $200 worth of fabrics bought at a large discount house in Montmartre.[4] The brand became Kenzo after a fashion show in New York in 1976, as the American market considered \'Jungle Jap\' too pejorative.[5] In 1983, Kenzo started designing men and then kids and home collections in 1987, followed by fragrances in 1988.[5] In 1993, luxury-products maker LVMH acquired Kenzo from SEBP and Financi?re Truffaut for about $80 million.[6] From 1995, Kenzo also produced Kenzo Studio, a line was produced through a licensing agreement with the Bonaventure Group. While Kenzo developed the line\'s fashion direction, Studio was sold only in the U.S. and Kenzo retail stores in China. The character Kenzo Harper in the BBC sitcom My Family is named after the fashion brand. In 2012, designers Humberto Leon and Carol Lim unveiled a knitted sweater with a tiger graphic on it for Kenzo\'s Fall 2012 collection.[24][25] Leon wanted to make a sweatshirt version of the sweater for him to wear.[26][27] Despite initial resistance from Kenzo\'s design team,[28][29] the tiger sweatshirts became extremely popular, with the initial run of sweatshirts selling out within hours at Kenzo\'s Paris location.[28] Since 2011, the tiger shirt and clothing designed by Leon and Lim[30][31] has been worn by celebrities and fashion bloggers including Jay Z, Kevin Hart, Beyonc?, Zooey Deschanel, Swizz Beatz, Selena Gomez, Spike Jonze, Joan Smalls, Lorde, NorthernSound and Rihanna.[citation needed] For the Fall 2014 collection, Kenzo collaborated with filmmaker David Lynch, who mixed the soundtrack for the show and provided a large sculpture.[32] For the Fall and Winter 2016 collection, Kenzo produced the campaign film The Realest Real starring Laura Harrier, Mahershala Ali, Natasha Lyonne, and Rowan Blanchard, and directed by Carrie Brownstein.[33][34] Also in 2016, Sean Baker (The Florida Project, Red Rocket) directed a short film starring model Abbey Lee called Snowbird for Kenzo SS16.
CEO | Stock Price | Founder | Headquarters | Revenue | Founded | Area Served |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sylvain Blanc | EUR 669.00 | Kenzo Takada | Paris, France | $197.4 million | 6 |