Kenzo Takada is a free spirited Japanese designer whose fashion line extends to perfume, skincare, clothing, handbags and sunglasses. His designer clothing reflects his unique artistic integrity that has elevated him to the status of fashion designer “extraordinaire”. What has set Kenzo apart from other Asian designers is his design process which is a fusion of cultures. It’s the impetus behind the designer’s signature mingling of Japanese flowery patterns with Parisian high fashion

Kenzo was born with keen eye for fashion and he wandered away from traditional and conventional educational pursuits, to establish his own unique designer methodology after attending Tokyo’s Bunka Fashion College. In 1958, when he was accepted as a fashion student the college had just begun to allow male students to attend.

As an aspiring fashion designer his learning curve included a lesson in how to use whatever fabric he could get his hands on due to his lack of funds. Kenzo originally put together his clothing designs from multiple colorful fabrics that he often found at flea markets.

The concepts that have defined Kenzo signature style have helped to transform him into an extraordinary fashion designer, before retiring from the ranks of active designers in 1999 at the age of 60- he had achieved worldwide acclaim. The Kenzo designer clothing line is divided into Kenzo Paris, Kenzo Jungle and Kenzo Jeans. The company was purchased by Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy in 1993. Kenzo maintained an active role in the company and continued to design until he turned the company over to his fashion assistants.

In its inception the Kenzo sunglasses were designed using innovative, artistic concepts, the designs were born from the creative impulse and combined with Kenzo’s high fashion sense. The sunglasses are popular and in demand all the globe with designs from earlier in his career being the most sought after.

Kenzo is known for his artistic use of flowers in his fashion designs, the flowers are known as “Kenzo flowers” because he used them in uncanny ways. The flowers showed that the fashion designer wasn’t about highbrow and lofty ideas that no one else can understand. No, Kenzo wanted to use his unique creative designs to show that the beauty of nature could be combined into fashionable clothing which included a fun, flirty element. Kenzo succeeded in creating a fashion line for men, women and children. And not only did he succeed, but he succeeded beyond his wildest dreams, as his clothing lines continue to flourish today.

In Spring/Summer 2011 new Kenzo handbags were introduced with a mixture of fabrics and his signature flowers. With the introduction of the new line of bright and fun bags and accessories the “Kenzo flowers” have taken on a new creative power, all of their own.

Kenzo pursued a path that at the time was considered unconventional for a man, it allowed him to fully use his adroit fashion skills and his profound quirkiness to establish himself as an iconic fashion designer in Japan and throughout Asia.