All good things must come to an end, even when they're just the beginning. So, even though there are many more collections to come, NIGO is bringing his seasonal KENZO drops to a close with one last round of lush floral prints.
Like the "Boke Flower," "Tiger," and "Denim" capsules before it, KENZO's new "Poppy" collection was designed by NIGO as an homage to house founder Kenzo Takada, who was famously fascinated by flowers — none more so than the poppy.
I mean, there's a reason that there's a KENZO Parfums scent dedicated to the flower.
As the LVMH-owned house's artistic director, NIGO is the shepherd ushering KENZO into a bold new era and, in true NIGO fashion, he's gone back to go forward again.
Takada splashed fields of flowers across his collections; NIGO indulges in bold hues but also pares back his print by upsizing the scale of his scarlet bloom.
In a quiet salute to Takada's color mastery, NIGO enlivened some of these crisp poplin Hawaiian shirts and cotton drill shorts with tumbling clouds of poppies. On other shirts, he affects a contemporary feel with a singular flower printed on the garments' rear, with a script logo branding the chest.
NIGO also strikes new ground with his own twist on some summer staples. For instance, a pair of dark denim shorts are classic NIGO, restricting the poppy motif to a single yellow flower stitched to one of the back pockets.
It's the sole deviation from an otherwise cohesive palette of white, black, pink, red, and navy, and speaks to the twin aims that NIGO's currently affecting at KENZO by balancing respect for the maison with his own street-leaning inclinations.
Available May 6 at KENZO's website, Dover Street Market web stores, and Saks Fifth Avenue's site (plus all of those retailers' New York outposts), NIGO's poppy capsule is one last taste of his vision for KENZO before the Fall/Winter 2022 collection launches in late 2022.
That's worth a couple more spins of I KNOW NIGO, hm?
