Kenzo gets the buzz at bee-themed show
The designer used the Kenzo touchstone of the safari or the trek, and reinterpreted the sand dust visor as a netted beekeeper’s mask
A hybrid Paris Fashion Week continued Wednesday, September 30, featuring a stand out live runway show from socially-distanced Kenzo, but no sign of any A-list celebrities.
Kenzo's show was a fairy tale in nature.
Guests smiled as they breathed in the fresh air of the inner city garden amid the sounds of the fountain.
Large umbrellas placed among the rose bushes marked out the show seating, little wooden stools, that ensured a safe distance between them.
Guests were happy to discover a pot of honey on each stool.
For Felipe Oliveira Baptista, the bees were more than a show gimmick, and the sweetness not just in the pots – it was to be found also in the creative, bee-themed designs.
The designer used the Kenzo touchstone of the safari or the trek, and reinterpreted the sand dust visor as a netted beekeeper's mask.
On one of the first looks, the sheer fabric of the headwear was held with a large floppy hat.
In clever creative play, Oliveira Baptista evoked a camouflage effect using printed vermilion flowers.
Colours were eye-popping, either prime or acid and the silhouette was tight and sporty, or flowing and diaphanous.
The collection was also defined by shape.
One look featured a netted visor in peach yellow that fell straight down from the round hat in a column tube shape, and shoes were geometric sandals with soles made of the bubbles shapes that evoked the inner lining of a beehive.
It took perhaps a deadly global pandemic for the fashion industry to change its wasteful and un-ecological system of invitations.
Usually, houses compete to produce the most eye-catching, inventive and flamboyant show invitations delivered often by gas-guzzling courier to each guest's address with little thought for the environment.
This season, owing to the virus and also the uncertainty surrounding the fashion show schedule, many top houses such as Balmain opted to invite guests via email.
Some that did send physical invitations, such as Kenzo, used eco-paper.