Story & heritage

When Nigo — founder of A Bathing Ape — became KENZO's artistic director in 2021, he introduced the Boke Flower as the house's new central graphic. The boke is the Japanese flowering quince, a poppy-hued bloom that opens in February; Nigo used it to forge a link between his own identity and the house's signature poppy, and to reconnect KENZO with the botanical, Japanese sensibility of its founder Kenzo Takada.

The Boke Flower deliberately stepped in for the over-exposed tiger, signalling a return to Takada's love of floral patterns. Carried first as an embroidered crest on sweatshirts and shirts, it has since spread across the entire collection and become the clearest emblem of the Nigo era.

Materials & craft

The sweatshirt is built in mid-weight cotton with a ribbed crew neck, cuffs and hem. The Boke Flower sits on the chest as a small, raised embroidered crest — a five-petalled bloom worked in red thread — rather than a print, the same elevation-through-stitching approach that defined the original tiger sweater.

How to choose & style

Quieter than the tiger, the single embroidered crest makes this the everyday KENZO sweatshirt — the one that signals the house without shouting. Black and navy are the staples and go with everything; the small red flower does just enough work that the rest of the look can stay simple.