Kenzo Spring 2015
Since they’ve taken over at Kenzo, California natives Carole Lim and Humberto Leon have delivered season after season of conscious fashion. No, the clothes aren’t made of hemp or recycled silk and no, they’re not offering charitable donations with the purchase of each and every logo-ed sweatshirt, but they are offering a look at conservation in a way that no other label is doing. Prior collections have explored the plight of our planet’s oceans and the impact of technology on our lives and the environment (and who can forget that show that featured a wall of molten chocolate?), but for spring, the designing duo have opted to be a little more broad with their strokes, simply stating that there is no planet B.
Kenzo Spring 2015
Dour? Well, the message was loud and clear coming from Knola, the avatar that told the audience at a Parisian skatepark that there was “no planet b” in languages that ranged from Arabic to English and Japanese. Kenzo is a brand that’s built on different vision: namely the hyper-techy vision that founder Kenzo Takada established when he started the line to the California skate punk background of both Lim and Leon in addition to the Parisian chic that customers have come to expect from the line. It’s a tough act to juggle, but season after season, Lim and Leon seem to hit the combo perfectly. Their solution to our ailing environment? A collection that worked in any climate. Palazzo pants were slashed to the thigh, just in case you needed some ventilation. Sweatshirts and tops were poked through with laser cutouts and paneled from airy eyelet lace. The look was slouchy and cool — that’s the Parisian part — but the heritage of the line came through in bright pops of color and the quirky prints that showed up on sweatshirts (a collector’s item season after season).
The slightly apocalyptic tone was carried through the collection with the use of print, which looked like tattered billboards sewn together or swaths of graffiti interlocked like a puzzle. That’s the skate culture — not to mention the venue — that attracts street style superstars and young, cool customers. And because Kenzo will always be about logos, that now ubiquitous KENZO text was used on peplums, pants and more. But it seems as if the logo won’t be the only thing the brand’s known for with Lim and Leon at the lead. The two are set on making this line about environmental awareness as much as daring design. Here’s to hoping that soon, actions will speak just as loud as that KENZO logo.
Images courtesy Style, T and Getty
