Kenzo opens its first flagship store in Singapore with a surrealistic mood

Kenzo has finally arrived in Singapore — and honestly, it feels right at home at The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands.

The French fashion house opened its first-ever Singapore flagship on Thursday evening (16 October 2014) with a buzzing launch party packed with the city’s fashion crowd, effectively turning the Bay Level into a full-blown KENZO playground for the night.

Spanning 1,250 square feet, the boutique houses the complete KENZO universe — menswear, womenswear, shoes, bags, eyewear and accessories from the Autumn/Winter 2014 collection by Humberto Leon and Carol Lim.

But more than just another luxury store opening, the space captures exactly why KENZO under Humberto and Carol worked so well in that era. There’s this electric tension between polished and playful. One second you’re looking at sharp, streamlined interiors, and the next you’re hit with surrealist prints, embroidered outerwear and tiger-emblazoned sweatshirts that practically demand attention from across the room.

The entire store carries that signature KENZO energy — part Tokyo cool kid, part Left Bank eccentric.

And then there are the bags.

Left: Absinthe ‘Forever, No?’ clutch in calfskin and Fire Kalifornia large tote in rubberised calfskin | Right: Zig zag patterned tote

Printed calfskin clutches screaming “FIRE” and “Forever, no?”, rubberised totes, zig-zag carryalls — the kind of statement pieces that felt impossible to ignore in 2014, especially at a time when fashion was moving away from quiet minimalism and diving headfirst into bold graphics, humour and personality again.

Left: Neon printed caps | Right: Wool sweatshirts

More photos from the event

Founded by Kenzo Takada in 1970, the house has always thrived on cultural collision — blending Parisian fashion with Japanese sensibilities long before “East meets West” became a marketing cliché. When Humberto Leon and Carol Lim took over creative direction in 2011, they injected the brand with a younger, sharper pulse that made KENZO one of the most talked-about labels of the decade.

And with this new flagship planted firmly in the heart of Marina Bay Sands, Singapore finally gets a proper taste of that world.

The Kenzo Flagship Store is located L1-22/23/24, Bay Level at The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands.

For more information, visit Kenzo.com