Cult of K*NZO

On November 5 2016, Paula Varjack found herself queuing at 4am, outside of a shopping centre in east London, for the collaboration between the high end designer KENZO and H&M. Five hours later, she and twenty others were given ten minutes to shop in a cordoned off section of a store. After paying at a till staffed by cheering, applauding sales assistants, she emerged carrying the largest shopping bag she had ever carried, in a complete and total daze. What had just happened? What was it about Kenzo? Cult of K*nzo is a solo performance combining storytelling, videography, sound design and choreography, to playfully explore one woman’s life long desire for luxury. The ways in which luxury brands create desire, and the journey of one man’s dream to become a fashion designer. Across all of these stories are outsiders, 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?