Humberto Leon and Carol Lim sure know how to pick a venue. Parisians in the know swooned with nostalgia as they entered the once-iconic, department store La Samaritaine, now defunct and LVMH-owned, ready to be converted into a hotel and shopping mall. It may have been physically freezing, but we were warmed up by the fact Leon and Lim had caught this building’s derelict Art Nouveau soaring interior at its last moment of glory and married it up with their verve-filled trip to India this season. There’s enough proof out thereof Kenzo’s wave of popularity and relevance (20,000 of those tiger sweatshirts shifted and counting), based on Lim and Leon looking to the past with a bit of a wink.

That tactic worked again as they unearthed some hugely collectible Kenzo Takada dresses made up of jacquard ribbons and tracked down the original haberdashery to create their own intricate ribbondry, inspired by the layers in Indian temples. They were worked into the bandaged skirts and dresses updated of course with the sweatshirts and round-shouldered bombers that will get the cash registers ker-ching-ing. Likewise gold lamé, lush jacquards and lotus prints were contained within the kind of street smart uniforms that turns a far and away jaunt to India, into a more local reality. In amongst this eyeful was the third eye – mystical and protective in its bid to ward off evil spirits. It graced the shoes, neat coats, Delfina Delettrez collaboration jewellery and of course, those all-important sweatshirts. Everyone will be combatting evil-spirits on the streets then come September.

www.kenzo.com 

Hair: Anthony Turner

Makeup:  Aaron de Mey 

Models pictured: Sam Rollinson-@SamRollinson, Ji Hye Park-@JiHyePark0206, Lindsey Wixson-@lindseywixson, Katlin Aas-@AasKatlin, Meghan Collinson-@meghancollinson, Ataui Deng-@AtauiD, Kel Markey-@kelmarkey, Simone Carvalho-@_CarvalhoSimone, Julia Nobis-@JuliaNobis1