Kenzo Takada (1939-2020) was one of the first Japanese fashion designers to establish a business in Paris. Here, the designer’s highly original ideas resulted in countless looks that redefined fashion. After moving to France, Takada established his eponymous brand in the French capital in 1970, and soon began attracting attention, earning the title Poet of Cotton for his innovative use of this inexpensive material. He continued to focus on liberating the human form through clothing and went on to design loose, dart-free garments or garments featuring straight-cut kimono sleeves, while he was also known as a colour magician for the unique way he combined colours and patterns. Takadaʼs designs effortlessly transcended national boundaries, culture and gender to suggest a new style of clothing that was not dictated by the existing Eurocentric cultural traditions.
Even today, his designs are still loved fashion pros and aficionados across the planet. The exhibition Takada Kenzo – Chasing Dreams, opening Sat – Jul 6 at the Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery in Tokyo, is the first large-scale solo exhibition since the designer’s sudden and tragic death in 2020. The showcase presents a curated series of garments which reveal how Takadaʼs designs changed over the years. Also included in the exhibition are a series of paintings which he first began creating as a young child, reference materials which inspired his ideas, as well as his fashion design sketches. Through this format, the designerʼs career will be presented from a number of different perspectives, enabling visitors to reflect on his stellar creative career.
Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery
3-20-2 Nishi Shinjuku (Shinjuku)
Tokyo 163-1403
Telephone +81 3 55418600
Tue-Sun 11am-7pm
Publishers Note
Just to be clear – superfuture® is a design blog and not a political commentator. No surprise there. The scope of our content has always been global and borderless, however that can often mean covering projects in countries where we will not agree with the politics or actions of those countries. In a world that’s as screwed up as ever right now, the focus of our support is to those designers, architects and other creatives who aim to make the world a more liveable one – as opposed to people that try their hardest to destroy it. So if a project hits our desk and we like it based on its design credentials, we may choose to publish regardless of its location or creators nationality. superfuture® has always been inclusive and hopes for all current wars, aggression, violence, hate and extremism to end.
