Fashion Designs

Undated [1990-2000].
60 original sketches (210 x 280 mm), in ink, felt-tip pen, graphite or watercolor. In sheets, in a slipcase with flap signed by Julie Nadot.

We apologize for the imperfect translation generated by Deepl for the purposes of the show.

Kenzo Takada is the story of the first Japanese designer to make a name for himself in the world of Parisian fashion. Born in 1939 in Himeji, Japan, Kenzo developed an interest in fashion at a very early age. Opposing his parents’ choice to pursue literary studies, he enrolled at Tokyo’s Bunka Fashion College, a renowned fashion school where he was one of the first male students admitted to the fashion and textile department. In 1965, he left his country to pursue his dream in the fashion capital of the world: Paris. “Every wall, every patch of sky and every passer-by in the city inspires me to imagine my collections,” Kenzo Takada said of his adopted city. He had moved there to learn from the greatest, with the idea of returning to Japan afterwards. In love with the city, feeling at home and wanting to ‘create something’ there, he stayed for more than fifty years.

In 1970, he organized his first fashion show and opened his first shop, called Jungle Jap. During his first year of activity, he presented not two but four collections in one year. He was also one of the first to invent the concept of ready-to-wear. In Kenzo’s creations, unstructured shapes and striking colors without being vulgar come together and make the designer’s reputation. In 1983, he began to take an interest in men’s fashion and opened his first men’s boutique four years later, distinguishing himself in particular thanks to his shoe collection, which has become a fashion classic. At the end of the 1980s, the designer entered the world of perfume, which he explored with as much talent as haute couture. After the death of his partner in 1990, Kenzo decided to sell the Kenzo brand to the LVMH group, before his final departure in 1999.

These drawings, from the latest collections from his pencil, had remained his property until his death from Covid on October 4, 2020. The contents of his Paris apartment, where they were located, were sold by Artcurial in the spring of 2021. All these drawings come from there.

An exceptional collection, in a remarkable box set by Julie Nadot.