Kenzo Show - Paris Fashion Week Fall 2011 | FashionTV - FTV.com

Paris Fashion Week Fall 2011 on http://FTV.com fashiontv Kenzo Takada is a Japanese fashion designer. He is also the founder of Kenzo, a worldwide brand of perfumes, skincare products and clothes. Kenzo's love for fashion developed at an early age, particularly through reading his sisters' magazines. He shortly attended the University of Kobe, where he felt bored and eventually withdrew, against the will of his family. In 1958, he joined a fashion school, Tokyo's Bunka Fashion College, which had then just opened its doors to male students. After earning his diploma, he settled in Paris in 1964. He was trying to gain a place in the fashion environment; attending shows, making contacts with the media and selling sketches. Kenzo's first designs started because he could only afford to buy his fabrics from flea sales. As a result, Kenzo had to mix many bold fabrics together to make one garment. Kenzo's success started in 1970: during this year he presented his first show at the Vivienne Gallery; his first store, "Jungle Jap" was opened; and one of his models appeared in the cover of ELLE. His collection was presented in New York and Tokyo in 1971. The next year, he won the Fashion Editor Club of Japan's prize. Kenzo proved his sense of dramatic appearance when, in 1978 and 1979, he held his shows in a circus tent, finishing with horsewomen performers wearing transparent uniforms and he himself riding an elephant. His first men's collection was launched in 1983. In 1988, hi