Kenzo La Collection Memento No3

Scene setting: Kenzo designers Humberto Leon and Carol Lim are renowned for putting on a good show. For the brand’s A/W 2018 men’s and women’s show in January, the label’s collection showcase took the form of a theatre performance, and for the second iteration of its La Collection Memento collection – one which delves into the history of the Kenzo archive – guests were treated to a Japanese kawaii band and food stalls of tempura and mochi. For La Collection Memento No 3, the duo looked to Mr Kenzo Takada’s love of The Dream (1910) by Henri Rousseau, an oil on canvas painting, and one of over 25 of the artist’s jungle theme paintings. Holding a dinner come catwalk show at the Money Museum in Paris, Kenzo erected rows of ornate banquet tables, lined with moss and tropical fruits, and a forage-style buffet, featuring beetroot lollipops, citrus fruit salad, and vegetable madeleines, dreamt up by chef Sugio Yamaguchi at Botanique Restaurant.

Mood board: Humberto Leon and Carol Lim reinterpreted the jungle scenes of Rousseau’s work in rich tapestries, which were worked into long dresses, trousers and carried by models as blankets. There was colourful knitwear with Rousseau motifs, intarsia sweaters with jungle scenes and cardigans emblazoned with tropical blooms. Rousseau’s aesthetic had a huge impact on Mr Kenzo, who called his first Parisian boutique ‘Jungle Jap’, before renaming it after his surname. Humberto Leon and Carol Lim also delved further into the knitwear archives of the house – a signature of the brand – reimagining bold stripe knits in panelled jumpers, football scarves and beanies, paired with cagoules and denim.

Team work: Kenzo collaborated with London-based set designer Gary Card, resulting in a series of theatrical and imaginative looks created from plastic and card, resembling mini jungle sculptures. Wearable no, but exactly the kind of imagination weary fashion editor’s want to see after a day of shows in sub zero temperatures.