Takada, the first Japanese designer to discover success in Paris in the early 1970s, is dead. His family said in a statement to French media that he had died from complications from COVID 19 at a hospital in Neuilly-sur-Seine, near Paris.
Models and designers have taken to social media to pay tributes to Takada, who was commonly referred to by his given name, Kenzo.
“So sad to hear of your loss today … will always remember your smile and humble demeanour … and positivity you shined on us all,” Naomi Campbell said on her Instagram account. “Rest with the angels.”
“It is with great sadness that we learned of the passing of an incomparable master of colour and light, elements celebrated by his utterly unique, upbeat and joyous sense of joie de vivre. His innate modernity and creative energy has made the House he founded a source of unending invention and an inspiration to multiple generations.”
#KenzoTakada Dior posted on their Instagram page.
Although Takada had retired from his fashion house in 1999 to pursue an art career, he remained one of the most respected figures in Parisian ready-to-wear.
The designer’s death comes 50 years after he opened his first boutique in Paris.
