Madame Butterfly

Throughout his career, Kenzo maintained a constant dialogue between his creative imagination and Japanese culture. From 2010, as he withdrew from the fashion world, he began organizing his own art exhibitions worldwide, notably presenting his series of floral-patterned kimonos, a signature of his aesthetic universe. It was following these exhibitions that he was contacted in 2017 to design the costumes for a new production of Puccini’s opera.

Kenzo threw himself into the project with passion, entirely reimagining traditional Japanese dress. In an interview with the Japan Times in September 2019, he confided: “It’s a difficult project. The costumes had to be coordinated with the director’s guidelines and the vast number of components that go into a musical production.” The secondary characters wear pastel, understated costumes that set off the graphic and floral profusion of the principal costumes: “I wanted to respect tradition as much as possible. I have always thought that the kimono has a very modern aspect… As a costume designer, I tried to capture Puccini’s narrative while depicting Japanese spirituality as faithfully as possible. It should make the audience dream and carry them off into ecstasy.”

Although Kenzo produced thousands of sketches and drawings over his lifetime (nearly 5,000 by his own count), finished watercolor drawings are extremely rare, and even more so when they concern his creations outside the field of haute couture.

Provenance: collection of Kenzo Takada (sale, Artcurial Paris, May 2021).