The Cult of Kenzo

Paula is a stylish and fashionable woman on a budget with her own look and sense of style. Many of her clothes are carefully chosen eBay purchases that she combines into that look.

So why did she queue all night to buy a dress she’d set her heart on from the limited edition collection between high end designer Kenzo and H&M? She spent as much in 10 minutes as she would usually spend in a year and emerged with the largest shopping bag she had ever carried. What was it about these clothes and this brand that made her act so out of character?

The Cult of K*nzo is her theatre show that takes an insiders look at consumer culture through the lens of fashion. It interweaves the stories of one woman’s lifelong desire for luxury and the young Kenzo Takada’s dream of becoming a fashion designer.

In a world where you are who you wear The Cult of K*nzo looks at how high end designer brands create desire, the tension between inclusion and exclusion, and the mysterious allure of high end. Why do we want the things that we want? What’s in a brand?

The show is an original and very entertaining examination of consumer culture, class, race and how we interact with the world.