NIGO’s first fashion show after becoming KENZO’s artistic director, the 2022 autumn and winter series ended perfectly yesterday, and as the first Japanese designer after brand founder Kenzo Takada, NIGO expressed its vision for KENZO’s development this season. “An encounter between inheriting the classics of fashion houses and unlocking the codes of contemporary trends.” At the same time, the brand also aims to present the concept of “REAL-TO-WEAR”, hoping to create a real fashion wardrobe from a forward-looking perspective.
NIGO, who has the same cultural background as Kenzo Takada, is well versed in the secret of integrating the classic elements of Eastern and Western fashion, and their attitude towards fashion is quite the same. It is hoped that the fashion on the show should be reflected in real life. Following this concept, Nigo inherits the spirit of KENZO. With a keen sense of fashion and a familiarity with the brand’s fashion archives, Nigo integrates personal design language and style to present a new fashion vane that transcends culture and tradition. This series includes many single products, such as jackets, coats, formal wear, tooling, as well as a series of accessories such as bags and shoes, to meet the different wearing scenarios of “REAL-TO-WEAR”.
In addition to the continuation of the brand’s classic floral pattern, the Japanese-style structure, Japanese denim and knitting series also reflect NIGO’s love for clothing. Notably, Nigo, for example, is currently learning Aka-e (red-painting) pottery from master potter Fujimura Shuji, who applies decorative patterns hand-painted by his teacher to clothing. The inspiration comes from the “work clothes” of Japanese pottery craftsmen. The patterns on the clothes and the design itself complement each other. The overall shape is similar to the “Japanese service clothes (Samue)”. Style kimonos, combined with the traditional hanten design, were transformed into double-faced woolen men’s jackets and fleece women’s bomber jackets on the runway.
In terms of accessories, NIGO, which is good at designing with animal elements, reinterprets the plush tiger scarf designed by Kenzo Takada. Oversized caps and baseball caps also reflect the American classic style under the Japanese aesthetic lens. In order to reflect the concept of “non-utilitarian tooling style” of the series, desert boots and tooling boots are designed with thick soles and are presented with floral patterns as details. In terms of bags, the design in the KENZO fashion archives is re-imagined, injecting the classic Pop Bouquet pattern, Tamari pattern and new geometric patterns.