Nautical campaign takes the spotlight for the brand’s latest campaign.
Artistic Director Nigo distills the timeless vision of KENZO into an essential message for a new-generation mentality. For the Spring Summer 2023 Women’s and Men’s Campaign, the Japanese fashion designer introduces a youthful and vibrant cast to amplify the design philosophy and creative codes of the French luxury brand.
Serving as a nod to the 1980s Japanese view of Parisian couture, KENZO takes the maritime uniform to a different level by highlighting the values embodied by the art director’s practice at KENZO: worldliness, inclusivity, and individuality. This year’s Spring-Summer campaign personifies the multifaceted and optimistic nature of Nigo’s work in a character-centric cast brought to life by Jalan and Jibril Durimel, in studio imagery by Paulo Sutch, and moving imagery by Franck Lebon.
Exemplifying the elements that underpin Nigo’s creative language, he establishes a continuous triptych for the Spring-Summer 2023 Collection: codes, characters, and locations. As cross-cultural and history-driven codes define KENZO, it is but proper to bring to life these ideals through its collections.
As an output of these creative ideas, KENZO showcases three photographic formats that unify into one, centered around an international all-star cast: skateboarder and musician Lil Dre, vocalist Nina Utashiro, and models Moses Battiest, Ama Elsesser, Sunmoon Jung, Lily McMenam, Omar Sesay, Lulu Tenney, and Bomy Youn.
KENZO Spring-Summer 2023: A Closer Look
Celebrating the marriage of the East and West, the nautical-themed collection of KENZO Spring-Summer 2023 takes the center stage in emblematic pieces: including the sailor jacket, marine-collared varsity jacket, and the dixie cup, as well as workwear and tailoring in Wavy Check, Micro Pixel, and ‘dripping’ jacquard that symbolizes water.
Taking into consideration the importance of location in visualizing the ideals of KENZO, the on-location portraits shots were shot in the urban beach setting of Los Angeles by the French-born American photographers Jalan and Jibril Durimel to bring the casts to their communal environment. On the other hand, the studio portraits and still-life photos of Brazilian photographer Paulo Sutch focused on magnifying the characters and codes of the campaign.
KENZO’s Spring-Summer 2023 Collection also comes with a short film captured by Franck Lebon, where models get to introduce themselves and interpret the letters of Maison’s name in improvised acronyms that are distinct to their dreams and values.
