Photo: RINDOFF PETROFF/CASTEL/GETTY IMAGES Kenzo Takada was born in Hyogo, Japan on February 27, 1939. As a young boy, Kenzo would read his siters magazines and started to develop his love for fashion. At the early age of 19 he enrolled at Tokyo's Bunka Fashion College, it was not an easy choice for he did this against his families wishes. Kenzo showed off his skills at school and quickly gained recognition by winning a fashion design competition and a Soen Award in 1961. Kenzo gained hands on experience when he started working for the Senai department store in Japan, there he designed about forty outfits for girls in a month. Kenzo arrived to Paris in January 1st of 1965, he struggled with his career at first and would sell his fashion sketches to fashion houses for only 25 Francs, he was also working as a stylist at Pisanti (textile manufacturer). Sketches from Kenzo's 1972 collection In 1970 Kenzo was able to open up his designer boutique located in the Galerie Vivienne