Kenzo Artistic Directors Collaborate with H&M
Kenzo Artistic Directors Collaborate with H&M
Kenzo’s artistic directors Carol Lim and Humberto Leon have been selected to collaborate with H&M’s Creative Advisor Anne-Sofie Johansson on a selection of mens and womenswear clothing and accessories. Just last year, Olivier Rousteing of Balmain created a unique and much sought-after collection for the brand, as have numerous other designers and fashion houses, starting with Karl Lagerfeld in 2004.
When asked how they define a complete collection, both at Kenzo and how they will for H&M, Leon stated that, ”We like to make sure each piece [in the collection] has its own value and feels special, but at the same time that the collection as a whole feels really united. That means people should be as excited to own a t-shirt as they are to own a dress. Each piece should feel deliberate.”
“Yes, and, overall, it’s always about realising strengths and weaknesses,” Lim added, in the same article for the H&M website. “We know what we’re good at and what we can bring. We know what the team at Kenzo is good at and what they can do. We try to give everyone that space to be creative. And then it becomes about letting there be a dialogue between those perspectives. Sometimes, it’s really easy. And sometimes, it’s hard because there are multiple points of view involved. But that’s good! Ultimately, you work it out.”
The two designers took over as creative directors of the Paris fashion house in 2011 from Antonio Marras. Kenzo Takada presented his final show in 1999 “He was the first Asian designer to come into Paris and design for women,” Lim says of Takada. “Kenzo really created a new way for women to dress.”
“At the end of the day, the product has to be amazing and people have to want to buy it and wear it—not just for the story, but for how it looks on,” Leon says in the statement from H&M. “People nowadays have so many options for what they want to wear and how they want to express themselves and that’s great. It just means we have to be that much more attentive and to continue to makes clothes that people can get excited about.”
The collection will be available online and in 250 H&M stores worldwide on November 3rd, 2016.
Kenzo Artistic Directors Collaborate with H&M
