Kenzō Takada

Kenzo Takada (1939 to 2020) was a Japanese-born fashion designer who built his career in Paris and founded the clothing house Kenzo. Born in Himeji, he trained at Bunka Fashion College in Tokyo, won the Soen Award in 1961, and sailed to France after his Tokyo apartment was demolished ahead of the 1964 Olympics, arriving in Paris on 1 January 1965. He opened a small boutique in the Galerie Vivienne in 1970, first trading as Jungle Jap, and opened the Kenzo flagship at the Place des Victoires in 1976. His voluminous Big Look of 1973 and 1974 helped set mid-1970s fashion, and the house's annual sales rose from 30 million francs in 1979 to 240 million in 1984. The brand grew into menswear, childrenswear, home collections, skincare and perfumes. Takada later served as honorary president of the Asian Couture Federation.