An interview with Carol Lim and Humberto Leon, the creative directors at Kenzo who have designed a new limited edition collection inspired by the Disney film, ‘Jungle Book’. The film, which was released world wide in mid-April, has already left previous box office records for the season standing. The quintessence of poetry that expresses how anything is possible in the end. In the imagination or in fashionA high-spirited bear like Baloo, or Mowgli the abandoned little man boy rescued by a pack of wolves and who the wise panther, Bagheera, will assume custody of. But also King Louie the orang-utan, the frightening tiger Shere Khan and the wonderful Colonel Hathi, the Indian elephant that never does anything and this too is why he lives for so long. Choose your favourite character from Jungle book, the stories told by this British writer Rudyard Kipling, published between 1893 and 1894 and which together with further writings culminated in 1907 with him being awarded the Nobel prize for literature. Choose one and put it on, because the protagonists of the new limited edition collection by Kenzo are all of them, the most unexpected group of cartoon characters that both adult and child can remember.
A tribute by Carol Lim and Humberto Leon – since 2011 the creative directors at Kenzo the historic Franco/Japanese fashion house launched in 1970 by Kenzo Takada and today one of the most colourful and light-hearted flowers in the button hole of the French luxury group LVMH – to coincide with the world-wide release of the Disney film, a modern version of the 1967 classic cartoon transformed into mixture of animation and live action by the director Jon Favreau. And Carol and Humberto were inspired precisely by some of the original drawings from the classic film; jackets, tops, summer dresses and shirts in cotton and silk for the women’s collection and for the men, light weight jackets, trousers and Hawaiian shirts.
Which are the cult pieces in the collection?
We like all the prints very much, especially the jersey pieces with the tiger Shere Khan.
What is your own, personal memory as a child of ‘Jungle Book’?
It is a story we have both always liked because of the animals, which we love, and their adventures. We feel like we are “inside’ the story, which has always been a big favourite.
Which is your favourite character?
We both love Mowgli, his independent spirit, the way he fights his fears and in the end manages to dominate them. And in this too there is a part of us and of our life, both personal and professional. The pleasure of discovery is every day and is always richly emotionally rewarding. And then again ‘Jungle Book’ helps us to reflect on how important it is to stay together, to share and stay in a group, unite different personalities. Ultimately to be able to live together in harmony.
What was your favourite fairy tale when you were young and which do you tell your children today?
There are lots of stories and lots of fairy tales, but the one today that is the most deeply rooted in our hearts is ‘Jungle Book’. Also because, in working on the collection, we had to reread all the stories really well and study the drawings from the 1967 Disney archives. A real full immersion into the jungle that made us all happily become children again, more than you might believe. This is also the reason, despite our children being devourers of books that in the end they too were infected by the book and the film.
