KZO is “Cinematic Fashion” | ditransitive verb: the art of holding captive visual narratives; drama, moods, & voices for each season’s collection. Fashion company located in Los Angeles in the Arts District, a physical ground zero anchoring the DNA of KZO. Each season’s collection is designed with a cinematic process, beginning with a video treatment, soundtrack, and visual storyboards; telling a tightly focused story. Every picture tells a story, every KZO collection evokes a deeply held emotion. Visual Narratives = international visceral fashion touchstones. Universal stylistic plot line that runs through each/every collection: exquisite fabrics, obsessive attention to fit, minimalist, provocative, textures, indie, global – all through a USA/West Coast lens. | KZO is named after creative director/founder Joel Knörnschild’s second generation American-Japanese grandfather; Kazuo Iwasaki. “Kazuo” = “Peaceful Man”; is also Joel’s middle name. Born in Southern California, Joel’s DNA is a global melting pot combining Japanese and German genes. Joel’s earliest memories were working for his father’s apparel company in the pattern room and in various sewing factories across Los Angeles. From a young age, Joel fell in love with photography, cinema and film. A video camera capturing unfolding stories always accompanied him. He grew up playing in numerous rock bands; his love of music found a place in the soundtracks accompanying his videos. Joel studied art history in Florence, Italy; has lived in Innsbruck, Austria and in Tokyo, Japan. Fashion, music and film all came together when Joel combined the mediums by writing and directing music videos for various bands in the United States and Japan. | Menswear ; offering 2 collections per year: Spring | Summer ; Autumn | Winter.