Kenzo Goes Grocery Shopping in Paris

La Collection Memento N°4 epitomizes the appeal of see-now-buy-now.

With the see-now-buy-now model, runways increasingly have come to resemble grocery store aisles, each look representing a ripe-on-the-vine item that’s ready for the purchasing. Nowhere is this analogy more full-blown than at Kenzo’s La Collection Memento showcase, which kicked off this afternoon in Paris. The collection is the fourth in Kenzo’s La Collection Memento series, which pays homage to the brand’s founder Kenzo Takada through archival motifs, hand-picked by present-day creative directors Carol Lim and Humberto Leon.

This time, Lim and Leon picked from Takada’s most whimsical prints—the most prominent in the just-released collection being hyperreal tomato graphics. Printed in high, ready-to-eat relief on men’s and women’s cotton pieces, from mesh shirts to black smock dresses, the cornucopian patterns are mementos of Takada’s famous taste for both entertaining friends and tongue-in-cheek fashion.

Attending this imagined dinner party is not only the spirit of Takada, but a crew of young Parisians. For the La Collection Memento N°4’s accompanying lookbook, shot by 25-year-old British-Ghanaian photographer Campbell Addy, Lim and Leon assembled a handful of 20-something artists-slash-creators, telegraphing a new generation of Kenzo customers. “My parents used to wear [Kenzo] in the 80s,” 23-year-old Lea told the brand. Though they may be young, their dietary habits are apropos of the archival collection: “I’m a vegan,” the cinema and philosophy student added. “[I’m] inspired by the Japanese culture of eating reduced portions and healthy produce.”

Coinciding with the brand’s Paris Fashion Week presentation, the La Collection Memento N°4 is live as of 2 p.m. today, and will be available for four weeks. Go ahead, add to shopping cart.

From left: Tsuvasa, 25; Amande, 22; Khng Khan, 27; Faty, 26; Pablo, 26; Magueye, 26; Lea, 23 for La Collection Memento N°4 (Photo: Campbell Addy, courtesy Kenzo)
From left: Lea, 23; Khng Khan, 27; Faty, 26; Amande, 22; Pablo, 26; Magueye, 26; Tsuvasa, 25 for La Collection Memento N°4 (Photo: Campbell Addy, courtesy Kenzo)
Tsuvasa, 25, for La Collection Memento N°4 (Photo: Campbell Addy, courtesy Kenzo)
Amande, 22 for La Collection Memento N°4 (Photo: Campbell Addy, courtesy Kenzo)
Pablo, 26, for La Collection Memento N°4 La Collection Memento N°4 (Photo: Campbell Addy, courtesy Kenzo)
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