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The designer #KenzoTakada died today in Paris due to complications from Coronavirus. He was 81. After studying fashion in Tokyo, he traveled by boat to Paris, with stopovers in Hong Kong, Mumbai and Saigon, in 1964, and ended up living there for the rest of his life. It was this voyage, in part, that inspired the nomadic spirit at the heart of his eponymous ready-to-wear label, which he founded in 1970. Drawing from a mishmash of cultural influences, from Eastern European folk dresses to kimonos with graphic prints, Takada’s clothes, which he designed until retiring in 1999, were celebrated for their eclectic and uplifting aesthetic, alive with color and print, and for their voluminous silhouettes. As Oliveira Baptista, the brand’s creative director, told Alice Cavanagh earlier this year, “his designs were all about freedom of movement.” Click the link in our bio to read the official @nytimes obituary, written by Vanessa Friedman, as well as several T stories from over the years featuring the designer. Photo by Bea De Giacomo.
