Carol Lim and Humberto Leon have built a community of creatives around them. In their work for Kenzo and Opening Ceremony, they’ve tapped the likes of Spike Jonze, Jonah Hill, Catherine Keener, and Chloë Sevigny for collaborations and special one-off projects—who could forget the one-act play OC staged last September?
So it wasn’t a surprise to hear the creative directors talking about designer Kenzo Takada’s own tribe at the Kenzo Pre-Fall presentation this morning: “They had their own language, and there was this idea of community and protection, but everyone in his clan did their own things.” Riffing on that idea, they turned hieroglyphs into graphic black-and-white prints for pajama sets and dresses, some with a waxy sheen. And the word love, as good a rallying cry as any, was stamped on the single button of a silk duchesse pantsuit and used as a repeating graphic on knits. Coming at the notion from a different angle, they also explored pared-down uniform dressing, cutting loose-fitting jumpsuits and an oversize bomber jacket in army green and trimming military parkas with fox-fur collars.
Add a soupçon of rave styling via fur clogs, bright chunky boots, and topknots, and it made for Lim and Leon’s liveliest mix in a while.
—Nicole Phelps, Style.com
