I’ve never seen as much gold confetti in my life as I did at this morning’s Kenzo show – not even New Year’s Eve can compare.
It wasn’t totally pointless – it did signal a giant shift in the collection from safari chic to just plain African inspired clothing. Everything was suddenly extra colorful, with shockingly bright pinks and blues and colorful head wraps on the succession of black models.
Post-show, I asked Antonio Marras if he was using his all black line-up to make a statement, especially since diversity in fashion is a forever hot topic, but he attributed it to more creative purposes.
“The idea of the mirage in the desert when you are just beaten by the sun, and then you see these women, all black, in all these colors, and it’s a different feeling, it’s just a like a vision given by the sun.” At least that’s how his assistant translated it, Marras only speaks Italian; but I got the idea he was trying to build some sort of desert hallucination on his Paris runway.
Next time, maybe more focus on the clothes than the setting.
—REBECCA SUHRAWARDI AUSTIN