Strategic change at Kenzo. The LVMH-owned Parisian label has reorganised its design team, aiming to strengthen its womenswear collections. Kenzo, which appointed Japanese designer Nigo as creative director in September 2021, has now tapped British creative Joshua A. Bullen, naming him head of design for its women’s collections, as the label told FashionNetwork.com. Bullen, who is coming from another LVMH-owned label, Givenchy, will be working closely with Nigo.

To place greater emphasis on its womenswear collections, Kenzo will stage a dedicated runway show during Paris Fashion Week Women in March, for the AW25-26. As a result, the label will only show in Paris with its men’s collection on January 24, instead of staging its usual co-ed show during the men’s fashion week. The plan is to return to mixed gender shows afterwards.

“This decision follows three years of creative growth under the design leadership of Nigo, who has laid a solid foundation for Kenzo’s menswear. As Kenzo’s men’s wardrobe is now firmly established, and is evolving with a strong and coherent identity, the house now wants to give Kenzo’s womenswear a bold new direction, presenting creations that build on the house’s heritage, while adopting a dynamic contemporary perspective,” Kenzo said in a press release.

In the last three years, Nigo, best known as a streetwear culture pioneer in Japan with his label A Bathing Ape, has thoughtfully reinterpreted the heritage left to the house by founder Kenzo Takada, while also modernising it. By skilfully blending Japanese influences, British-style tailoring and a streetwear vibe, he has brought fresh verve to Kenzo’s menswear collections. Instead, with womenswear, Nigo has never really managed to find his groove.

Choosing to put Bullen in charge of womenswear may be surprising, since so far in his career he has mostly distinguished himself in menswear. A graduate of Central Saint Martins College, Bullen, now in his thirties, was appointed head of design for Givenchy’s men’s collections in 2021. Previously, he was for a decade at directional Italian sportswear label Stone Island, now owned by Moncler. He worked initially on the children’s collections, then became head of design for the entire label. Bullen also did stints at British menswear label Christopher Shannon and at Dunhill, where he collaborated with the then creative director, Kim Jones, now in charge of menswear at LVMH’s flagship label Dior.