Japanese fashion designer Kenzo Takada dies from COVID-19

Image: Reuters

Japanese fashion designer Kenzo Takada, better known as Kenzo, died October 4 from COVID-19, his spokesman told several French media outlets.

Aged 81, Takada was at the American Hospital of Paris in Neuilly-sur-Seine, a residential suburb on the western outskirts of the French capital, the spokesman said.

Kenzo, the house he founded in the 1970s, is owned by LVMH, the world's biggest luxury group.

Takada brought a "gust of color and fresh creativity" to Paris in the 1970s, fashion news website WWD.com said.

"I was a fan of the brand in the Seventies when he started. I think he was a great designer," WWD quoted Sidney Toledano, CEO of LVMH Fashion Group, as saying. "I'm very sad. He was a great guy," he added.