Why do we want the things that we want? Combining storytelling, videography, sound design & choreography, The Cult of K*nzo is a playful critique of consumer culture through the lens of high fashion.

Dates and Times: Tue 05 - Sat 09 Feb at 21:00.

On November 5th 2016, Paula Varjack found herself queuing at 4am, outside a shopping centre in east London, for the collaboration between the high-end designer KENZO and high street label H&M. Five hours later, she and twenty others were given ten minutes to shop a cordoned-off section of a store. After paying at a till staffed by applauding sales assistants, she emerged carrying the largest shopping bag she’d ever carried, in a complete  daze. What had just happened? What was it about Kenzo?  

The Cult of K*nzo is a solo performance that playfully explores one woman’s lifelong desire for luxury, the ways in which brands create that 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?