Kenzo Returns to japanese roots — but not as we know it

Heads bopped throughout Nigo’s first show as artistic director of Kenzo. Among said heads were true hip-hop royalty: Pharell, Kanye West, Tyler The Creator and Pusha T.

Nigo is best known for pioneering the idea of selling hoodies at premium price points to lines of hypebeasts that snake around the block, first as the creator of the urban clothing line A Bathing Ape. He is a collaborator to cool creatives like the late Virgil Abloh. His Kenzo takeover is nothing short of historical as he is the first Japanese fashion designer to helm the House since Kenzo Takada himself.

For his debut collection, he combines formal-, sports-, and streetwear as his “real-to-wear” that harks back to the fashion influences he had while growing up in Japan; of course, Takada is referenced accordingly.

While the show soundtrack is indeed a bop — it’s an exclusive preview of I Know Nigo, the designer’s upcoming album with the above-mentioned artists as well as A$AP Rocky, Kid Cudi, Lil Uzi Vert and Teriyaki Boyz (where Nigo is a DJ) — this drop, is a hit. It will gradually be drip-fed through monthly limited-edition drops in a new era for the brand. Get ready to fall in line!

‘Impractical workwear’

All manner of white- and blue-collar dress codes are this season’s high fashion obsession. Nigo doesn’t propose authenticity — he contradicts it and deconstructs it, injecting his brand of subversive sartorialism into utilitarian dressing for those who may or may not put in the work. Takada’s archives of deconstructed tailored suits in Prince of Wales checks and pinstripes are interpreted in washed wools. A three-button jacket is echoed in a mid-length Harris Tweed coat. There are checked biker jackets. Sturdy coverall jackets and workwear are emblazoned with the archival Poppy Print.

In the accessories front, Nigo also brings back Takada’s no-nonsense bags from the archives and covers them in the archive Pop Bouquet flower print and the Tamari Monogram, a new geo-pattern. Desert boots and work boots fused with brothel creeper soles are embellished with flower prints.

All pieces cut a genderless silhouette. Is it representative of this age’s workplace equality? Whatever the case, it’s definitely of-the-moment.

The Japanese-Western revival

Nigo spent his teenage years in Japan amid the subcultural ’80s revival of ’50s Americana, amplified by the country’s post-WWII links with American culture. Tsukajans epitomize this, and Nigo’s take on the souvenir bomber jackets historically commissioned in kimono fabrics by the American occupying forces in Japan bear map embroideries of Japan and France that commemorate Kenzo as a meeting of these two countries. The same pattern also shows up in pouch bags, also reversible.

Blue-dyed jeans are another post-WWII import, since elevated into Japanese denim — workwear that falls between the rugged and the very refined. Nigo turns it into trousers, jackets, and salopettes with yellow topstitching — all structured in generous volumes — in clean washes, brut, or stonewash with pigment-printed Boke flowers by Nigo and the archival Poppy Print.

Honoring Japanese craftsmanship

Nigo is currently learning the art of Aka-e pottery from the master potter Fuji mura Shuji; it’s no surprise that remixed decorations hand-painted by his teacher make their way to tailored garments inspired by the workwear worn by Japanese potters. Sa mue, bib-like tops with lines evocative of the kimono, are layered with a traditional hanten that becomes a wrapped coat in double-faced wool or a cropped jacket in wool flannel.

Varsity vibing

Kenzo knits take a collegiate feel that was all the rage during Nigo’s youth and which is making a comeback today. Takada’s sculptural collars manifest as maxi-snoods. Fair Isle is animated in jumpers, cardigans, vests, dresses and leggings. Chunky American college jumpers are emblazoned with varsity patches with the Poppy Print and the Boke Flower. Casquettes and field caps go oversized as American classics seen through a Japanese lens. As a tribute to Takada, medals are forged in his profile, adorning garments throughout the collection.

Year of the Tiger

Nigo interprets the Kenzo tiger in a new Aka-e Tiger watercolor motif. There’s also a Tiger Varsity graphic. Tiger stripes appear throughout the collection. He also revives Takada’s feline stuffed-animal scarves.

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In the Philippines, Kenzo is one of the luxury labels in Akimbo at Uptown Mall, Fort Bonifacio, a pop-up at Greenbelt 5, Makati, and online at akimbo.ph.