No detail is too big or too small for Kenzo creative directors Carol Lim and Humberto Leon. Today's amazing venue, the historic Paris department store La Samaritaine, was positively enormous. Recently purchased by LVMH, La Samaritaine is about to undergo a two-year renovation and will become a luxury mall and hotel. "This is the first and last show here ever," a PR rep confirmed. It definitely had the feeling of a fashion happening, but the space was a bit too unwieldy in the end; the models had so much ground to cover, they didn't get close enough to the crowd. As for the little things, there was Starbucks coffee in plastic to-go mugs and Kenzo down wraps on every seat. You'll be seeing plenty of those on the street-style blogs in the coming days.
Ten years running Opening Ceremony has attuned Leon and Lim to what fashion-mad young people want. Recently, that's been color, print, and, from Kenzo at least, logos. Their peppy new collection delivered on the first two of the three. "It all started with these grosgrain ribbons from the seventies, which are probably Kenzo's most collectible dresses," Leon said. That special find got them thinking about Indian temples and, he explained, "the way they're built in so many layers." Metallic, multicolor ribbon prints and crocodile jacquards in glossy red or royal blue evoked the maximalist spirit for which India is known. But the clothes themselves—cross-draped shift dresses, skirt suits with round volumes, men's overcoats, boxy tops tucked into skinny pants—owed less to the subcontinent than to the city streets where the designers and their well-connected friends live. Their pals MIA and Delfina Delettrez Fendi, respectively, scored the soundtrack and made the show's jewelry.
The hits here will be a sweatshirt emblazoned with a third eye, and other pieces, like a bomber and wrap mini or a tailored coat that reproduced the motif on a smaller scale. "It's all about protection and warding off evil spirits," they said of the eyes. If anything, it seems these two live under a lucky star, but it's nice they're looking out for the rest of us.
