New York – Kenzo has now found their next animal inspiration: monkeys. The luxury
French fashion house founded by Kenzo Takada in 1970, has announced the
inspiration for their next collection will be inspired by the year of the
monkey.
In the Chinese zodiac, 2016 marks the year of the monkey. The zodiac is
comprised of twelve animals, including the monkey, the rat, the ox, the
tiger, the rabbit, the dragon, the snake, the horse, the goat, the rooster,
the dog, and the pig.
The capsule collection of sweaters and t-shirts will go on sale beginning
January 15 at Kenzo boutiques, kenzo.com, and select retail partner stores.
Price points for the black sweatshirts in the collection range from 260
dollars to 430 dollars. The design features the brand’s signature tiger,
eye, and multi-icon motifs in red and gold designed to be inspired by the
Chinese Lunar New Year which begins on February 8. The t-shirts in the
collection are at a price point of 110 dollars.
In 2011, when creative directors Humberto Leon and Carol Lim took over the
label, they began to completely transform the aesthetic of the brand. Under
their leadership, the fashion house began including exotic prints and a new
third eye motif in the designs.
The Kenzo brand had long been a stagnant luxury brand until the duo came
along. It was their sweatshirts that truly helped to put the brand on the
map, especially with the millennial generation. Once their sweatshirts were
made popular by celebrities like Katy Perry, the brand became a must-have
label and a household name.
The brand had actually never done sweatshirts before, but when Leon and
Lim’s first round of sweatshirts arrived at New York’s Opening Ceremony
store they sold out within two days. At the time, around 2000 sweatshirts
had been produced with the intention of being on the racks through the
holiday season, but they didn’t even make it to Thanksgiving. When the
sweatshirts arrived for sale at their Paris boutique in October, they sold
out within three hours.
In 1993, Kenzo was sold to LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton. This put Kenzo
under the global luxury conglomerate company that also owns Louis Vuitton,
Chanel, Dior, and Givenchy. The company had hoped to find creative
directors that would help turn the brand into a global fashion force, and
that’s what they got with Leon and Lim.