Get an exclusive look at Kenzo‘s innovative Spring 2025 men’s fashion show from the runways of Paris Men’s Fashion Week, held in June 2024.
Nigo’s Origami Influence Shines in Kenzo Collection
Who knew Nigo is a whizz at origami? He said he recently constructed a good-sized ball from 12 sheets of paper, and he’s teaching Pharrell Williams’ children the ancient Japanese folding art, starting with simpler forms like cranes.
A cache of nearly fluorescent origami paper, which he discovered at a 300-year-old stationery shop in Tokyo’s Nihonbashi district, sparked the color palette for his spring collection for Kenzo, which also reclaimed its links to the jungle via bamboo prints galore and newfangled tiger emblems.
The open-air show in the garden of Palais Royal served as a fitting backdrop for all the outsized florals, bamboo stalks and leaves. But the designer could afford to tame the prints a bit more, as he did when the palette switched from green to blue, and bamboo motifs felt more approachable on a quilted denim blouson.
He could also add more pep to his staging, and further hone his vision for womenswear, not yet as sharp as it is for menswear. Male models came out first in this coed display, trudging slowly over golden sand to drill music, a sub-genre of hip hop Nigo is rediscovering as he prepares a new album. Despite the gorgeous setting, the show never took flight.
On the plus side, Nigo is easing up on direct references to the archive as he puts his own stamp on the brand. To wit: He tapped his buddy Verdy, the graphic designer, who dreamed up a new Kenzo Paris logo for the fall 2024 collection, to produce a version of the house’s tiger emblem that falls somewhere between graffiti and cartoon.
It appeared as embroidery on the back of varsity jackets, as a busy jacquard for a blouson, and as an adorable plush toy that doubles as a backpack.
Perhaps it’s best to think of Nigo as a connoisseur of clothing, with exacting quality standards and a fastidious approach to details.
The collection included colorful, platform versions of the Japanese thonged sandals known as zori, produced by a renowned workshop in Kyoto that manufactures modern versions, the toe post made of a squishy, rubbery material for comfort and grip.
