Opening Ceremony founders Humberto Leon and Carol Lim go from strength to strength with their autumn/winter collection for Kenzo.

A lot can happen in two years. Back in 2011, Kenzo was better known for its poppy perfume bottle than its runway shows. Since taking over the reins, Opening Ceremony founders Humberto Leon and Carol Lim have transformed the quintessential East-meets-West label into one of LVMH’s coolest, youngest brands. So how do you move on from that big splash, which saw their tiger-head sweatshirt sell more than 20,000 pieces since its launch last year? With big names, celeb clout and a well-constructed show that’ll play to both the flashy Tumblr crowd and the discerning industry insider.

Leon and Lim roped in Karlie Kloss and Lindsey Wixson for their autumn/winter show and pulled their cool-kid strings and got M.I.A to whizz up a special mix, which incidentally served as a preview of a few new tracks.

(Great publicity, Maya!) Inspired by colours of Indian temples and the multi-coloured grosgrain ribbons favoured by Kenzo in the 70s, the clothes blended metallic jacquard and lamé, with a luxe edge added by extravagant use of shimmery gold – think New York gallery girl out for a night on the town in Goa.

The bomber jacket with raglan sleeves and brocade suiting were a particular highlight, and emphasises everything so great about Kenzo right now – that kind of casual, cool-kid insouciance which has got people flocking to the shops. And as for those on the lookout for the next tiger-head sweatshirt? That honour goes to the black sweatshirt with the third eye logo. You’ve been warned.

Words: Zing Tsjeng
Images: Mark Rabadan