Japanese fashion designer Kenzo Takada dies from COVID-19

[webfact]

Japanese fashion designer Kenzo Takada dies from COVID-19

By Sarah White

 

FILE PHOTO: Japanese designer Kenzo Takada, also known as Kenzo, poses for the media in front of his works at an art gallery in Buenos Aires, April 7, 2009. REUTERS/Enrique Marcarian/File Photo

 

PARIS (Reuters) - Japanese fashion designer Kenzo Takada, better known as Kenzo, who created his label in Paris in the 1970s, died on Sunday, the brand that still carries his name said.

 

Aged 81, Takada died of complications linked to COVID-19 at the American Hospital of Paris in Neuilly-sur-Seine, a residential suburb on the western outskirts of the capital, his spokesman told French media.

 

Known for his colourful motifs and original silhouettes, which mixed inspirations from Japan, such as the kimono, with other cuts, Takada also branched into perfumes and skincare lines, helping his business boom.

 

He had retired from his eponymous label several decades ago, however, after selling it to LVMH <LVMH.PA>, the world's biggest luxury group, in the early 1990s.

 

Kenzo has since had several other creative directors, while Takada maintained close links to the world of fashion but explored other areas of design, including furniture.

 

Confirming his death in a statement on Instagram, the Kenzo brand paid tribute to his use of colour, and said the label was still inspired by his zest for life and optimism.

 

Takada, who has described how he first reached France via a long boat journey in the mid-1960s, was known an avid traveller, and played with a mix of cultural inspirations in his designs.

 

A New York Times review of one of Takada's early fashion shows in 1973 hailed an "ethnic mishmash that was joyous and full of fun", describing him as "one of the most imaginative designers in the world".

 

Takada, who has also designed opera costumes, started out with a small store in Paris before soon reaching star status, and remained in his adopted city. His contemporaries in a thriving period for Parisian fashion included Jean Paul Gaultier and Yves Saint Laurent.

 

"Paris is mourning one of its sons today," Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said on Twitter.

 

LVMH's Chairman and CEO Bernard Arnault said in a statement that Kenzo had "infused into fashion a tone of poetic lightness and sweet freedom which inspired many designers after him".

 

Ralph Toledano, chairman of France's fashion federation, credited Takada with contributing to writing "a new page in fashion, at the confluence of the East and the West".

 

Takada early this year launched a new venture in Paris, a home and lifestyle brand called K3, in collaboration with other designers.

 

(Reporting by Mathieu Rosemain, Nicolas Delame and Sarah White; Editing by Giles Elgood, Frances Kerry and Barbara Lewis)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-10-05

 

- Whatever you're going through, the Samaritans are here for you

- Follow Thaivisa on LINE for breaking COVID-19 updates

[Bender Rodriguez]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

Aged 81, Takada died of complications linked to COVID-19 at the American Hospital of Paris in Neuilly-sur-Seine, a residential suburb on the western outskirts of the capital, his spokesman told French media.

81, so could not be natural right... has to be COVID, lol

[pacovl46]

8 hours ago, Bender Rodriguez said:

81, so could not be natural right... has to be COVID, lol

 

8 hours ago, Bender Rodriguez said:

81, so could not be natural right... has to be COVID, lol

Why don’t you go on another bender? Would probably be better than posting embarrassing comments here! 

[UnkleGoooose]

The authorities are embarrassing themselves  with stunts like this. The man died of old age, trying to link it to this farcically non lethal virus is desperation of the highest order. Let's give the benefit of the doubt and say that he did have one of the covid family of  viruses present in his system (because let's face it, that's all that can be tested for, there is no specific test for covid19), then there is still a huge difference between dying of a virus, and dying with a virus present.

[tgeezer]

The chances of surviving the Wuflu are over 90% at age 80. Only half of 76 year old men in the West are expected to make it to 85 so his was not such an unusual death. 
The irony is that protecting us oldies is the excuse for ruining everyone's lives and we are the ones most disinterested in living under a New World Order if they succeed!