AFTER a short hiatus from the success of his spring-summer 2022 show last March, Kenneth Ize returns with a Lagos Experience inspiration for the latest autumn-winter 2023 range.
Since embarking on this well-deserved break, Ize has taken a step outside of his apartment to fully saturate himself in the day-to-day operations of Lagos living to come up with a meticulously breezy colder weather collection. Influenced by how he spent his personal life at the time has seen a beauty found in a genuinely pure form and the series expresses notions that come from a place of peace.
By visiting various locations of the place he calls home, Ize gained motivation as he found a new sense of pride in his city, especially at the Katangua market in the heart of the Lagos Mainland. This adventure struck a challenge within him to rethink his design methods and open his mind to sourcing materials from unforeseen vendors such as roadside sellers, which play a strong role in the city’s economy.
From this, we enter a team of recognisable Kenneth Ize designs, of whom focus on art and technique of the weaving process, and the Lagosian tradition of up-cycling collectable objects that lead to new forms of life.
The Lagos atmosphere channels an exhilarating feeling that tests each individual to search for a silver lining in all of these experiences. This ideology has precisely persuaded the theme and title of this collection Backward Never, forward Ever.
Through a reliable resilience that is deep-rooted in every soul and character, the message to keep the torch burning is received loud and clear, marking this collection as a possible new and exciting chapter for the Kenneth Ize brand.
by Alicia Tomkinson