Hailing from Martinique, Jean-René Etienne studied to be a writer. After a couple of years running music label Institubes while teaching and translating American literature, he joined French fashion house KENZO as an art director and became one of the main architects of its rebirth. Now responsible for KENZO’s global image, he works alongside Lola Raban-Oliva under the name Partel Oliva. Together, they work across the many platforms of photography, cinema and fashion today. Most recently, they provided creative direction to “Planetarium”, a film by Rebecca Zlotowski featuring Natalie Portman and Lily-Rose Depp, and directed “Club Ark Eternal”, a short film showcasing KENZO’s resort collection.