Daily US Times: The Japanese founder of the Kenzo fashion brand has died from Covid-19, a spokesman for the firm confirmed.
His statement says Kenzo Takada died at the American Hospital in Paris at the age of 81.
Known for his colourful floral and graphic prints, he was the first Japanese designer to gain prominence on the Paris fashion scene.
Kenzo Takada settled in France in the 1960s and spent the rest of his career there.
With his “nearly 8,000 designs”, he “never stopped celebrating fashion and the art of living”, his spokesman said.
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo paid tribute to Mr Takada on Twitter: “Designer of immense talent, he had given colour and light their place in fashion. Paris is now mourning one of its sons.”
Fashion news website WWD.com quoted Sidney Toledano, CEO of luxury conglomerate LVMH which owns the Kenzo brand, as saying: “I was a fan of the brand in the 1970s when he started. I think he was a great designer.”
He was born in 1939 near Osaka and arrived in France in 1965 by boat and settled in Paris.
In 1970s, he founded the internationally known brand under his first name. In 1983, he launched a men’s line, and later in 1980s, the more casual sportswear lines Kenzo Jeans and Kenzo Jungle.
In 1993, he sold his clothing brand to luxury conglomerate LVMH and retired from fashion six years later.
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