For the last few years KENZO wasn't simply treading water, it was sinking. Japanese designer, Kenzo Takada's label has had numerous heads of design since his retirement in 1999 and wasn't really doing anything other than reminding people that it made perfume. Now it has had a serious injection of 'cool'. Owner LVMH has parachuted in the founders of chic New York store Opening Ceremony, Humberto Leon and CaroL Lim, to get the label back on people's radar.

Prints are intrinsic to the KENZO 'universe', as the duo are calling it, using old-fashioned paisleys, checks, stripes and medallion prints, but built a new language with them, applying them to new fabrics and in different combinations.

"We always think about functionality in clothes, which is expressed in bigger ways with reversibility and by smaller gestures such as discrete pockets for iPhone and iPad. The minimalist American artists Donald Judd and Dan Flavin also captured our imaginations for this season. Both artists worked extensively with interiors (a little studied aspect of their careers) that were filled with fascinating colours and patterns. Their clean and sleek aesthetic and combinations of shades influenced the look of this collection as well its proportions."

The first collection is available now.

KENZO - Printed Cotton Shirt - £190