The KENZO x H&M collection hits SA soon. Here's what to expect

H&M’s latest collaboration brings the history of the KENZO brand to a new generation.

Carol Lim and Humberto Leon, KENZO's creative directors, reveal what you'll find on the rails when the hotly-anticipated KENZO x H&M collection lands in South African stores on November 3.

THE INSPIRATION BEHIND THIS COLLECTION

We wanted this line to be a conversation between founder Kenzo Takada and us. We are well-versed in the archives of what Kenzo Takada created, but we didn't necessarily lend those silhouettes and prints directly to any of our collections until now.

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It felt like a great opportunity to give not only H&M customers a chance at getting a collectible, but also to bring the iconic pieces created by Takada for KENZO customers to more people.

In 1969, Takada was the only Asian designer to break into the Parisian fashion scene. We've never wanted people to forget that.

What you're seeing and what you will buy from the H&M collection are truly original pieces that haven't even made it onto our KENZO runways.

STRAIGHT FROM THE ARCHIVES

The outcome of this collaboration includes taking original archival pieces from the '70s and early '80s and modernising them. The Ribbon Dress has an interesting history; only two (of the originals) exist in the world. We own one. A museum owns the other one. H&M came in and helped us engineer it, to make it more affordable for retailers.

Then the off-the-shoulder dress is something every editor we meet tells us how, in the '70s, you had to own an off-the-shoulder KENZO dress. That was the item. We have also worked our prints with prints from the original catsuits that Kenzo Takada had made in the late '70s, recreating them as jumpsuits, as well as the medallion prints which come from a men's collection from the early '80s.

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ENVISIONING THE CUSTOMER

We feel like the customer who has followed the KENZO brand from the beginning, in 1969, will look at this and say: "Wow, they really embraced the heritage of the brand." Then the people who know the work only from when we started will see things like the sweatshirt; things that we introduced as part of the brand.

And there's probably a newcomer who doesn't even know what KENZO is, who will hopefully become curious and research what the brand is about. We talk about the customer more in terms of a spirit than we do about an age. We've always felt that the KENZO brand is youthful in spirit - it has an almost ageless expression. It's really for somebody who is just excited about fashion.

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THE CAMPAIGN

Jean-Paul Goude is one of our heroes, and an icon of contemporary fashion. We had the pleasure of working with him on our first campaigns at KENZO, and we're excited that he has agreed to shoot the KENZO x H&M campaign. He does more than just take photos of a collection; he goes deep into the brand to understand its character.

His campaign images for KENZO x H&M capture the spirit and energy of the collection as well as its positive and optimistic take on fashion and style. We love to think big at H&M and become more ambitious. It's a pleasure to work with some of the most exciting and creative people in the industry. We also love to surprise our customers with our projects.

Together with KENZO, we believe that fashion is part of a wider global conversation, one that brings together creatives from fashion, music, arts and activism: people who are making a stand.