Roy Krejberg for Kenzo Menswear
Written by: Godfrey Deeny
Photos by Gruber-FWD
Click on image to see bigger photo.
Paris, Jun 30, 2001/ FWD/ --- The first hint something was badly amiss in the Kenzo men’s collection shown
on the opening day of the French season in Paris was the posture of the models.
Bizarrely, even though their average age was about 20, most of the catwalkers looked oddly
stooped as they traipsed down the runway of a boxing arena in east Paris.
This rapid aging process was, one assumes, the result of some unusually proportioned jackets that bubbled up
at the top of the back, giving the cherubic youths the stance of a retiree.
In effect, this season’s silhouette of slightly flared, short trousers paired with small,
high-waisted jackets with large collars really didn’t work.
Kenzo’s Dutch designer Roy Krejberg also had an unlikely obsession with ferns, plastering the ancient plant all
over pants, shirts and suits in an eco-explosion of leaf shapes.
In among all the leaves there were some good
ideas: clever detailing in an opening phalanx of black trenches and jerkins, or pretty shirting with drip patterns.
Krejberg did respect the colors and mood Kenzo himself made famous.
The clothes were bright, the arena was bathed
in a lovely soft blue and waiters served charming mauve-colored fruit drinks.
But, in case anyone has forgotten,
Kenzo was not only a great colorist, he was also a damned fine tailor.
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