fashionologie

Humberto Leon and Carol Lim's First Kenzo Collection Well-Received

fashionologie — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 14:05:59 PDT

>> Yesterday, Opening Ceremony's Humberto Leon and Carol Lim welcomed editors and buyers to view their first, contemporary-slanted Kenzo collection - for Spring 2012 - at company headquarters. Giant, brightly-colored block K, E, N, Z, and O letters were lying about, a remix of Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” was playing on the loudspeaker, and their friend Chloe Sevigny closed the parade of models in a blue jumpsuit.

“We kind of put our feelers out that we were available to do something,” Leon said of how they got the job - they were two of 30 candidates interviewed. “We wanted to do a big project that felt --” “-- creative and exciting,” said Lim, finishing his sentence.

And it seems that they succeeded, according to Style.com: "Reactions at the presentation and afterward leaned toward raves." Added WWD: "The knowingly hip outfits probably missed the duo’s ambition of designing for 'all different types of bodies and ages,' as Leon said, but they delivered enough of a jolt to successfully reposition Kenzo as a more accessible contemporary label." Most of all, sounds like Lim and Leon will be sticking around a while - LVMH executive Pierre-Yves Roussel, who interviewed all 30 Kenzo candidates, noted of the collection: "It was exactly what we wanted."

Kenzo Spring 2012

fashionologie — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 18:33:29 PDT

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Preview Kenzo's New Direction Under Opening Ceremony's Humberto Leon and Carol Lim

fashionologie — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 10:00:56 PDT

>> Kenzo has released a teaser video, previewing the direction new creative directors, Opening Ceremony's Carol Lim and Humberto Leon, will be taking the label for their debut collection on Sunday. The new, contemporary-leaning Kenzo looks to be colorful and print-heavy, based on this video directed by illustrator Jo Ratcliffe.

Humberto Leon, Carol Lim Talk Refreshing Kenzo

fashionologie — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 08:55:06 PDT

>> New Kenzo creative directors Humberto Leon and Carol Lim are already dropping hints on their vision for the label, which will become more clear when their first collection - for Spring 2012 - debuts during Paris Fashion Week.

“Kenzo was always about color and pattern and having fun - that’s why we are so happy to start with a Spring/Summer collection,” says Leon, adding that he and Lim are not as attracted to the hippie side of Kenzo as to the inspiration the label's founder, Kenzo Takada, derived in street culture. The goal in reviving the brand, Leon says, is "to tell a story and to capture in our designs the Kenzo of 2012.” Lim adds that their Kenzo is for “sexiness, powerful women and those not afraid to wear color.”

The designers' Asian heritage - Leon is part Chinese, Lim is Korean, Takada is Japanese - will also come into play, Leon says: “We are very Asian. It is definitely in our blood.” And they're also hoping to intrigue more than just the younger generation with their designs: ‘’We want people to feel that Kenzo is a warm and exciting branded family store."

Opening Ceremony's Humberto Leon and Carol Lim Named New Kenzo Creative Directors

fashionologie — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 07:56:14 PDT

>> LVMH has appointed Humberto Leon and Carol Lim, the 36-year-old co-founders of Opening Ceremony, as creative directors of Kenzo, effective immediately. They replace Antonio Marras, who joined Kenzo in 2004, and will show their first Kenzo collection in October for Spring 2012.

Under Leon and Lim, Kenzo is to be repositioned in the contemporary sector, with prices expected to range from 200 euros to 1,500 euros ($285 to $2,135).

"It’s great to bring this young, contemporary generation into Kenzo,” said Pierre-Yves Roussel, chairman and CEO of LVMH’s fashion division. “They’re really embracing what was the origin of Kenzo - that Jungle spirit.” Roussel interviewed a wide range of both young and experienced designers for the position, he said, but was struck by the “360-degree vision of the fashion industry” Leon and Lim have. He added that Marras had been “respectful of the heritage of the brand . . . What we need now is something which has more energy, which is looking forward in terms of addressing a new generation.”

While the pair are not trained as designers, they expect to “build an exciting team” of designers to realize their vision for Kenzo. Leon said that while he sketches ideas, “we’ve always worked in a team community.”

They plan to continue with Opening Ceremony, and split their time between Paris and New York.

Fall 2011 Paris Fashion Week's Top Bags You Won't Want to Live Without!

fashionologie — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 13:19:22 PST

>> Hannah MacGibbon did bucket bags at Chloe and Valentino sent out delicate shoulder bags, but really, when it came right down to it, Paris designers had a one-track mind this season: clutches, clutches, and more clutches. See our favorites handbags, overwhelmingly of the clutch variety, in the slideshow - including the Dries Van Noten stunner, at left.

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Kenzo Fall 2011

fashionologie — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 13:30:30 PST

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Will Hedi Slimane Be Announced Yves Saint Laurent's New Designer Around Paris Fashion Week?

fashionologie — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 08:53:06 PST

>> For the better part of a year now, Stefano Pilati's standing at Yves Saint Laurent has been under intense scrutiny. After reports circulated that he had renewed his contract at the house for three more years in October, the rumors of his imminent departure subsided - until Saint Laurent CEO Valerie Hermann, who with Pilati restored the house to profitability, announced last week she was stepping down to become CEO of Reed Krakoff on April 1. She helped recruit her successor at YSL, former Lanvin CEO Paul Deneve.

Then, a couple of days ago, someone tweeted under Kenzo's PR handle: "Just heard BIG news about this being a certain designer at an established French house's last season and being replaced by someone major!!" and "CEO has just left and now the designer replaced by someone who has moved away from design the last couple of yrs but stayed in fashion." The tweets - which seem to point to Pilati as the deposed and Hedi Slimane as the successor - have since been taken down (Note that YSL is under the PPR umbrella, whereas Kenzo is part of LVMH).

Now, Hint is reporting that according to sources, Hermann didn't leave her post last week, but rather was let go because of low sales volume. And Slimane - who designed for Saint Laurent before Dior Homme - has been chosen as Pilati's replacement, partially due to his friendship (read: ability to get along) with Pierre Berge. Word is, one way or another, the matter will be addressed by a spokesperson around Paris Fashion Week.

And in the aftermath? There's already been suggestions that Carine Roitfeld with consult for Slimane at the brand, and of course, there's the rumor that Pilati is set to take over at Giorgio Armani after the designer's retirement.

Kenzo Spring 2011

fashionologie — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 08:46:10 PDT

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Is LVMH Shopping Kenzo Around?

fashionologie — Thu, 13 May 2010 11:53:29 PDT

>> Is LVMH, which has owned Kenzo since 1993, ready to put the brand on the block? WWD reports that LVMH has been gauging potential buyers' interest in the brand; sources indicate that investment firm Credit Agricole was recently hired to evaluate the French fashion house, founded in 1970 by Kenzo Takada, for a possible sale.

It seems that whether a deal actually goes through could go either way: it is understood that LVMH would be "fussy," in WWD's words, about selecting a buyer, because it aims to hold onto the Kenzo perfume business, and it's also possible that LVMH will decide to keep the brand, after all. All a LVMH spokesman would say on the matter was, “The company does not comment on rumors."