Jan 25, 2025

Nigo is making news all over this fashion week, moonlighting as Pharrell Williams’ wingman at Louis Vuitton for fall 2025 , and presiding over his first dedicated menswear show at Kenzo since becoming creative director a little more than three years ago. He continues to lean into the archive of founder Kenzo Takada, and riff on his tale-of-two-cities narrative, having one foot in Tokyo and the other in Paris. This collection felt dressier, and more cleaned up, even as he revisited familiar workwear and schoolboy themes and new versions of tatami prints, here laser etched on a shearling blouson, or as a tweed-like motif on woolen pants. He imagined subway or train journeys through the French and Japanese capitals, yielding lovely views of Mount Fuji and the Eiffel Tower, and added some English accents, including fuzzy mohair that winked to Vivienne Westwood’s Seditionaries days. You May Also Like Handsome wool topcoats in quirky colors or hairy textures were a key item, worn in an offhand way with small-visor baseball caps like the ones Nigo wears. Archival prints included a leaf print that emerged from pinstripes. The show could have used some peppier music and modeling, without the usual hangdog expressions. The founder was always smiling, and the brand – synonymous with color and print – comes to life better when the mood is lighthearted. In this vein, Nigo unveiled a collaboration with Futura, whom he’s known as long as Pharrell Williams, roughly 30 years. The pioneering American graffiti artist and streetwear icon created new versions of his atom motif, melded with Kenzo’s signature boke flower.