Opening Ceremony Founders Are Kenzo’s New Creative Directors
Opening Ceremony is one of the coolest companies around, and its owners Humberto Leon and Carol Lim are equally as awesome. The two have a lot whole on their collective plate, but they’re poised to get even busier as the new creative directors of Kenzo.
LVMH-owned Kenzo is repositioning itself, and bringing Leon and Lim on board makes a lot of sense. In its ’70s heyday, the brand mixed Japanese and European influences for a playful, eclectic effect. This sounds right up their alley! Of course our question is this: how will the dynamic duo have the time? They have quite a few balls in the air in regards to OC — two stores in New York, one in LA, one in Tokyo, shops in the Beijing and Hong Kong Lane Crawford outposts, an online store, in-house collaborations, and a private label collection that is sold in 300 stores around the globe. Whew.
Kenzo will focus on growing business in Asia and reentering the American market. They already have a large presence in Europe that includes boutiques (there are 100 stores worldwide) and a healthy wholesale business. The brand sees itself aligned with contemporary brands (read: Alexander Wang, Rag & Bone), and will price accordingly; dresses will range from a couple hundred to a couple thousand dollars.
Leon and Lim aren’t designers (they’re, for all intents and purposes, super sick merchants), so they’ll be assembling a design team to work under them while they split their time between Paris and New York. Their debut collection will be shown in October and roll out to stores next spring. They will also be responsible for overseeing a store design overhaul.
Suffice to say, we’re extremely excited to see what these two cook up. If anyone can resuscitate the brand, it’s them.
[WWD]
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