Count on Kenzo to deliver a collection that imparts female strength using the symbol of a stylized flower. While it’s tempting to reduce the statement to a sporty exercise in Asian fusion, the component parts revealed how Carol Lim and Humberto Leon were designing outside the box—red lacquer or otherwise. Most notably, everyday pieces had been engineered in terms of fabrication (slickened Lurex piqué) and shape, as when hems on pants and shirtsleeves were slightly displaced to achieve an altered silhouette—just like how the crease in a folded piece of paper acts as an axis of dimension. And these loosely applied origami principles also extended to two new bags (Rizo, a leather satchel, and Champ, a nylon jacquard). Shearling coats (a bomber and a trapeze) were shaved with a patterned relief, which threw to the pointillist effect on a geometric print, itself a faint echo of Fernand Léger. Elsewhere, thick twisted black cord served as an ornamental theme, appearing on stretch floral minidresses and as a “chest plate” accessory for leather jogging pants with warm-up jackets.
The Japanese influence—further underscored by the Kenzo logo in katakana and the “Tanami” flower insignia (picture an anime hibiscus)—played into the brand’s impulse to offer a thematic hook. While a graphic entry point never hurts, sometimes the must-haves aren’t so noticeable. The ankle boots stood out for their rectangular kitten heels, and those seemingly basic platform ballerina flats have been freshly reissued from the Kenzo archive.
