TAKADA KENZO: CHASING DREAMS
HAPPENINGText: Alma Reyes
The iconic names of Hanae Mori, Issey Miyake, Kansai Yamamoto, Rei Kawakubo, Yohji Yamamoto, Junko Koshino and other prominent Japanese designers have carved their marks of excellence in the history of global fashion. Included among these epoch-making creators is Kenzo Takada (1939-2020), more popularly known as KENZO. Like Mori, Miyake and Kansai Yamamoto, Takada sadly departed this life and left a precious legacy of unprecedented creativity in the evolution of garment design.
Installation view, Takada Kenzo: Chasing Dreams, Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery. Photo: Kenji Takahashi
Takada’s enormous impact on world fashion is being honored in his first large-scale solo exhibition since his unfortunate death in 2020. “Takada Kenzo: Chasing Dreams” is running at the Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery, until September 16th and presents a full retrospective of the designer’s lifelong career – from his student days at Bunka Fashion College in Tokyo, career jumpstart in Paris, progressive success with fashion shows and unique collection lines, to his hindmost endeavors as a painter and product designer until his last days.
Installation view, Takada Kenzo: Chasing Dreams, Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery. Photo: Kenji Takahashi
The exhibition is curated chronologically outlining the timeline of Takada’s life on the walls with descriptions, photographs and sketches. In the first section, we trace Takada’s early life, who as a young boy in his hometown Himeji, developed a keen interest in fashion magazines. Despite obeying his parents’ wishes to study literature at Kobe University, Takada later on pursued his heart’s content and fled to Tokyo to enroll at Bunka Fashion College in 1958. He was one of the first male students to be accepted at the traditionally all-women institution. A rare self-portrait painting he completed while in college is displayed. Soon enough, he garnered the 8th SO-EN Award in 1960, revealing a white two-piece dress with a striking blue top, wide belt, and matching hat as exhibited. The winning design paved the road to his illustrious fame.
Installation view, Takada Kenzo: Chasing Dreams, Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery. Photo: Kenji Takahashi
Also in the same room is the wedding dress that appeared in the 1982-83 Autumn/Winter collection. The dress is meticulously embroidered with about 200 meters of multicolored ribbons, adorned with more than twenty flora varieties, which he had collected for over twenty years. The magnificent creation attests the designer’s prowess in handiwork.
Takada’s pivotal move to Paris seemed a blessing in disguise. His Tokyo apartment block was knocked down in preparation for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, and he was handed a 10-month rent compensation. The valuable amount shipped him to Paris in 1964, with stops around Asia, Colombo, Mumbai, Djibouti, Alexandria, Barcelona, and Marseille. This vibrant journey surely inspired his individualistic style, and groomed his Parisian life in the next decades.
Occupied selling his sketches to Paris fashion houses, magazines and designers, such as Louis Feraud, Takada eventually opened his own shop in Galerie Vivienne in 1970. The studio was Henri Rousseau-like, furnished with psychedelic flowers, trees, and exotic animals, resembling a jungle. He remarked, “My vision was to merge two things I loved – the jungle and Japan…” Later, he moved to the elegant Passage Choiseul that became a beehive for Japanese tourists.
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