Creative Directors Carol Lim and Humberto Leon have certainly left their mark on Parisian fashion house Kenzo. However, no one could have imagined that one of the most iconic pieces of their time at the fashion brand almost never came to be.
In an interview with Stylist Magazine, Leon describes the initial pushback he received from his design team. "I told Kenzo, 'I'm going to make a tiger sweatshirt for myself'...They were like, 'What kind of fabric?' I said, 'Er… sweatshirt material,' and they said, 'We don't do sweatshirts.'"
Leon wanted a more relaxed rendition of the sweatshirt to wear during his bows following his fall/winter 2012 show. While the designers at Kenzo showed their displeasure at the choice to create a more relaxed version of their runway sweater, it was Leon's version that ended up selling better than it's runway counterpart.
"The knitted and embroidered jumper that we created was quite expensive and we didn't sell that many," said Lim. "But then there was a waiting list in store for the sweater as it got shot for the ad campaign. So when the sweatshirt came in, it just blew up. We just couldn't keep it in stores."
[via Vogue UK]
