KENZO and Levi’s® have teamed up to launch the KENZO x Levi’s® capsule collection.
This collaboration – the first ever collaboration under Nigo at KENZO – fuses the cultural heritages of the Parisian-Japanese fashion house and the iconic American apparel company to create a collection composed of around 20 gender inclusive garments and accessories crafted mainly in Kaihara premium Japanese denim.
KENZO X LEVI’S®: an authentic denim wardrobe suspended between the traditions and innovations of East and West. KENZO and Levi’s® join forces in a Fall 2023 capsule collection, the first ever collaboration under Nigo at KENZO, fusing the cultural heritages of the Parisian-Japanese fashion house and the American apparel company.
Designed in collaboration with Nigo and Levi’s®, the denim-focused proposal for women and men exemplifies the ongoing cross-pollination between historical Japanese dressmaking and classic American workwear central to the practice of KENZO’s Artistic Director.
The capsule collection epitomizes the real-to-wear functionality key to Nigo’s KENZO approach. An avid collector of historical clothing, the designer’s archives in Japan hold a considerable catalogue of American denim pieces including original Levi Strauss & Co. workwear created for cowboys and miners. His passion for denim and its place in fashion history is reflected in the legacy of Kenzo Takada whose interest in the ease and democratic spirit of denim inspired him to launch the KENZO JEANS line in 1986.
Together, these components make up a wardrobe founded in a conversation between Americana, Japanese construction, and the genetics of Kenzo Takada which inspired the connection between KENZO and Levi’s®.
The East-meets-West philosophy at the heart of KENZO x Levi’s® is framed by a campaign shot in Kyoto. Nigo invited the Japanese filmmaker, Umi Ishihara, whose work fuses documentary and fiction to capture the collection in cinematic moving imagery filmed in two traditional mountain villas in Kyoto. The locations play host to a series of still images photographed by the Inner Mongolian photographer Ryu Ika, who illuminates the collection through her inimitable everyday lens.
The campaign features Abas Abdirazaq, Hayato, Masato Eun, Peipei, Sen Ping and Shun.
You can shop for this capsule collection here and here.
