Kenzō Takada

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Kenzō Takada (2008)

Kenzō Takada ( Japanese 高田 賢 三 Takada Kenzō ; born February 27, 1939 at Himeji in Hyōgo prefecture ; † October 4, 2020 in Neuilly-sur-Seine , France ) was a Japanese fashion and product designer who worked internationally under his first name Kenzo ( without macron ) was known. The global fashion and cosmetics company KENZO , which he founded in Paris in 1970 , still exists today, but has been run without Takada since 1999.

Private life

Kenzo boutique, 1 rue du Pont-Neuf, Paris

Takada's long-time partner was the architect Xavier de Castella, who died of AIDS in 1990 .

Takada, who was considered shy and reserved and spoke broken French, continued to live in Paris even after his withdrawal from KENZO and had his main residence in Monaco since 2009 . His more than 1200 m², Japanese-inspired property on three floors near the Bastille , which he wanted to furnish with de Castella and in which he had ultimately lived alone for 20 years, was sold to Pascal Breton in early 2009 for almost 12 million euros French television producer, and set up on 250 m² in a former boathouse in the 12th arrondissement of Paris . His extensive art collection was auctioned for 1.9 million euros by the Aguttes auction house in Paris in mid-2009 .

Takada died on October 4, 2020 at the age of 81 in a hospital in the Paris suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine of complications from a COVID-19 disease.

Career

Life as a designer

In 1958, Kenzō Takada began his studies as the first male student at the Bunka Fukusō Gakuin (English Bunka Fashion College ), one of the most renowned fashion schools in Tokyo . In 1964 Takada came by ship to Marseille and from there to Paris, where he had lived since 1965, after initial difficulties and changing assignments - as the first Japanese designer - he presented his first fashion show in 1970 and caused a sensation. The fashion magazine Elle featured one of the models shown at this show on its cover . This first success was followed by other great successes in quick succession. In 1970 Kenzo had opened a boutique called Jungle Jap in Galerie Vivienne (since 1985 a Jean Paul Gaultier boutique). In 1971 his collection was shown in New York City and Japan . In 1972 the rush to his fashion show was so great that it had to be interrupted, and Takada was also awarded the "Fashion Editor Club of Japan" award . In 1976 he opened the first KENZO boutique and his company headquarters on the Place des Victoires in Paris, where a KENZO flagship store is still located today . He proved his sense of dramatic appearances when he held his shows in circus tents in 1978 and 1979 and had an art rider perform in a transparent uniform or Takada himself rode into the ring at the finale on an elephant .

Takada's colorful and cheerful fashion in unconventional color and pattern combinations, often decorated with floral motifs, always combined - often inspired by private trips - "Asian influences with European chic". In 1983 Takada expanded his work to include men's fashion. The clothing portfolio was also expanded to include the secondary lines KENZO Studio , KENZO Jungle and KENZO Jeans as well as children's fashion. Perfumes have also been sold under the KENZO label since 1988. The first women's perfume, the bottle of which was adorned with a cap in the shape of rose petals , was called “ KENZO ”; it was followed in 1991 by the first men's perfume “ KENZO pour Homme ” with a bamboo leaf- shaped bottle . Since then, other perfumes have been launched under the name KENZO.

In 1984, Takada was appointed Knight des Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Minister of Culture, Jack Lang . For his humanitarian commitment, Takada received the Time For Peace Award in the fashion category in New York City in 1999 .

In 1993 Takada sold the KENZO brand for 482 million francs (equivalent to around 70 million euros) to the French luxury goods group LVMH , but remained with the company as chief designer.

In 1999, at the age of 60 and after 30 years as a designer, Takada announced his retirement from the fashion world and left the KENZO company to have time for his family and to travel.

Life after KENZO

Interview with Takada (2005)

In 2004 Takada reappeared on the design scene and presented his label Gokan Kobo ( Eng . 'Atelier of the Five Senses'), which was renamed Takada by Kenzo Takada in 2006 . Home accessories, bed linen , chairs, dishes , women's clothing and swimwear were sold under the brand name . In 2007, the brand was discontinued due to moderate success. Takada retained the trademark rights to his full name after the sale of the KENZO brand to LVMH. a. for the French crystal manufacturer Baccarat , the porcelain manufacturer Royal Limoges , the carpet manufacturer Tai Ping Carpets and the Pâtisserie Lenôtre products. In mid-2010, Takada, who had started painting after retiring from KENZO, showed ten self-portraits in a Paris art gallery showing him in traditional Japanese clothing. At the beginning of 2011, the designer designed the interior of a hotel belonging to the Sofitel Group in Mauritius . Since 2012, he has been involved in the design of three catamarans with a Monegasque yacht manufacturer . In autumn 2012, a high-priced jewelry collection by the Parisian jeweler 10 Royale was launched under the name 10 Royale by Kenzo Takada , for which Takada had designed pieces of jewelry in a floral design.

Web links

Commons : Kenzō Takada  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Kenzo Takada: "I only wear colors on vacation" , derstandard.at, November 18, 2012
  2. ↑ Kenzo TAKADA: "La mode est une révolution ..." , dailymotion.com, January 28, 2011 [Video]
  3. ^ The Beautiful Fall: Fashion, Genius and Glorious Excess in 1970s Paris , books.google.de, accessed: December 14, 2012
  4. ↑ Focus: Kenzo to auction his art collection (March 25, 2009)
  5. ↑ Focus: Kenzo sells below value (June 17, 2009)
  6. ↑ Textile industry: 12 million euros for a Zen oasis (March 5, 2009)
  7. ↑ Textile Industry: At home with Kenzo  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (March 27, 2008)@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.textilwirtschaft.de  
  8. ^ Kenzo art collection auctioned for 1.9 million euros ( Memento from June 27, 2009 in the Internet Archive ), dnews.de, June 18, 2009.
  9. ↑ Kenzo Takada died of Covid-19. In: Der Spiegel . October 4, 2020, accessed October 4, 2020 .
  10. ^ Textile Industry: International Fashion Discussion: Kenzo Takada (August 8, 1996)
  11. ^ Designer ABC: K for Kenzo , faz.net, March 24, 2006
  12. ↑ Fashion like from the Garden of Eden: Kenzo celebrates its 40th anniversary  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , vogue.de, 2010@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.vogue.de  
  13. ^ Spice of brevity , spiegel.de, November 1, 1976
  14. ↑ a b textile industry: Au revoir Kenzo!  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (September 16, 1999)@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.textilwirtschaft.de  
  15. ↑ Der Spiegel: Fashion Designer Kenzo Retires (September 10, 1999)
  16. ↑ Kenzo passe dans le giron de Louis Vuitton , lesechos.fr, 3 August 1993
  17. ^ Textile industry: Kenzo Takada sues LVMH (March 3, 2005)
  18. ↑ Textile industry: Kenzo can't help it  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (August 26, 2004)@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.textilwirtschaft.de  
  19. ↑ Textile industry: Kenzo Takada is hired (December 17, 2007)
  20. ^ "Fashion Designer Kenzo Takada Exhibits His Paintings In Paris" , ifitshipitshere.blogspot.com, June 17, 2010.
  21. ↑ “Sofitel launches design brand” ( Memento from May 16, 2011 in the Internet Archive ), htr.ch, May 12, 2011.
  22. ^ Exhibition of Kenzo Takada jewelry in Monaco , visitmonaco.com, September 13, 2012
personal data
SURNAME Takada, Kenzō
ALTERNATIVE NAMES 高田 賢 三; Takada, Kenzo
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Japanese fashion designer
DATE OF BIRTH February 27, 1939
PLACE OF BIRTH near Himeji , Hyogo Prefecture , Japan
DATE OF DEATH 4th October 2020
Place of death Neuilly-sur-Seine