Mix and match
Kenzo welcomes us enthusiastically into the new millennium with his newest collection, which was staged at the immense Halle aux Chevaux in Georges Brassens park. The spring-summer 2000 line once again demonstrates the designer¹s incredible talent for mixing and fusing to create new styles. He ingeniously blends natural and synthetic fibers; knits woven from brut cotton and stiff fabrics with paper-like textures, cottons woven with metallic or lacquered threads, loosely knit rubber, nylon and airy cotton organza. Alongside the fluid, supple suits in gray, pastels, and the occasional shocking pink, there were zippered jackets, loose, comfortable pants and jackets, overalls, Japanese pants worn under work jackets and long tunics, transparent jackets with pajama pants, nylon pants with zippers on the legs, and of course Bermuda shorts. He blends checks, giant Madras prints and mattress stripes or pinstripes for skirts and tunics. On a more daring note are the python print leather jacket and the suits in a reflective cotton-silk material. Polka dots become large multicolored circles on turquoise and bright red. Fluorescent bands of yellow, green and turquoise illuminate ensembles in brut cotton. Blue suits are decorated with giant contrasting topstitching, along with clever slits and panels. Kenzo has come up with an infinite range of blues, greens, purples and lavenders, and dark reds. Swimwear from the new Kenzo Wave line excites the eye with a plethora of bright shades. There is also the new upper-scale suit line, ³full canvas Construction², which boasts hand-sewn finishings.
Virginie Transon
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