Kenzo Takada

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Kenzo Takada (高田賢三 Takada Kenzō, born 27 February 1939 in Himeji, Japan) is a Japanese fashion designer. He is also the founder of Kenzo, a worldwide famous brand of perfumes, skincare products and clothes.

Bottle of the fragrance Fleur by Kenzo
Bottle of the fragrance Fleur by Kenzo

Kenzo's love for fashion developed at an early age, particularly through reading his sisters' magazines. He shortly attended the University of Kobe, where he felt bored and eventually withdrew, against the will of his family . In 1958, he joined a fashion school, Tokyo's Bunka Fashion College, which had then just opened its doors to male students.

After earning his diploma, he settled in Paris in 1964, not without adaptation problems. He was trying to gain a place in the fashion environment; attending shows, making contacts with the media and selling sketches.

Kenzo's first designs started because he could only afford to buy his fabrics from flea sales. most of these fabrics were scraps, the remains of grandmothers sewing baskets. As a result, Kenzo had to mix many bold fabrics together to make one garment.

Kenzo's success started in 1970: during this year he presented his first show at the Vivienne Gallery; his first store, "Jungle Jap" was opened; and one of his models appeared in the cover of ELLE. His collection was presented in New York and Tokyo in 1971. The next year, he won the Fashion Editor Club of Japan's prize. Kenzo proved his sense of dramatic appearance when, in 1978 and 1979, he held his shows in a circus tent, finishing with horsewomen performers wearing transparent uniforms and he himself riding an elephant.

His first men's collection was launched in 1983. In 1988, his women's perfume line began with Kenzo de Kenzo, Parfum d'été, Le monde est beau and L'eau de Kenzo. Kenzo pour Homme was his first men's perfume (1991).

Since 1993 the brand Kenzo is owned by the French luxury goods company LVMH.

Kenzo Takada announced his retirement in 1999, leaving his assistants in charge of his fashion house. In 2005, he reappeared as a decoration designer presenting "Gokan Kobo" ("workshop of the five senses"), a brand of tableware, home objects and furniture.

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Persondata
NAME Takada, Kenzo
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Takada, Kenzō; Takada, Kenzou; 高田賢三;
SHORT DESCRIPTION Japanese fashion designer
DATE OF BIRTH 27 February 1939
PLACE OF BIRTH Himeji, Hyōgo, Japan
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH