Kenzo Takada, a renowned French-Japanese fashion designer, passed away at 81 years old on Sunday evening. He held his last breath at a hospital near Paris in France, according to Forbes.
Passing of a Designer
Takada’s family said that the cause of death is due to complications related to coronavirus. He died at a hospital in Neuilly-sur-Seine, a commune in France that is near Paris.
Kenzo Takada, the designer whose exuberant prints helped bring Japanese fashion to the world, died on Sunday at a hospital in Paris. He was 81.https://t.co/JlDh80mqd8
— The New York Times (@nytimes) October 5, 2020
Meanwhile, his fashion brand, KENZO, stated their “immense sadness” in learning of the passing of the company’s founder. “For half a century, Mr. Takada has been an emblematic personality in the fashion industry, always infusing creativity and color into the world.”
Remembering Kenzo
Likewise, the chairman of LVMH, billionaire Bernard Arnault, also expressed his mourning over Takada’s death, Forbes reported. He also shared his sympathy for the designer’s family. In 1993, Arnault’s company bought KENZO.
“Kenzo Takada has, from the 1970s, infused into fashion a tone of poetic lightness and sweet freedom, which inspired many designers after him,” Arnault stated. He added that Takada “also durably renewed the world of perfume.”
Several other personalities remembered him, including supermodel Naomi Campbell. In a social media post, she said she will never forget Takada’s “smile and humble demeanor.”
Meanwhile, another billionaire, Francois-Henri Pinault acknowledged Takada for contributing to Paris’ being the fashion capital. “[Takada’s] fashion resembled him: at the crossroads of cultures, creative, joyful, and generous,” Pinault’s quote according to Forbes.
Takada’s Beginnings
CBS News said that among Takada’s famous creations include his jungle-infused designs and youthful, free-spirited aesthetics. He used bold colors in his styles, clashed prints. Moreover, he also took inspiration from travels around the world.
Takada was born in Japan in 1939. Later in his life, he dropped out of his literature course to pursue fashion. Then, Takada became among the first male enrollees of the Bunka Fashion College in Tokyo. In an interview last year, he even revealed that his parents also objected to the idea of him entering the fashion industry.
In 1965, he moved to Paris to work as a freelance designer, CBS News said. Afterward, he would have one design to be featured in a magazine cover before his collection reached the American fashion publication Vogue. Takada then became known for his wide shoulder forms and armholes signature, among others.