Leggings, Leggings and more Leggings, Oh my!

Leggings; A favorite fashion item and staple of most Japanese women, not to mention most women in general.  They coordinate well and look great under dresses, under shorts, under long shirts, and even by themselves.  Now leggings come in 250 different selections.  Fast Retailing's Uniqlo is offering leggings for everyone's tastes.  Uniqlo's expanded collection of leggings come in a variety of colors, fabrics, colors and styles including cutting-edge leggings, with zippers, studs and strategically placed rips, and this year the leggings will sell for 990 yen, 1500 yen and 1990.  Can anyone say fast-leggings?

JFW by the numbers

Japan Fashion Week 2010 attracted a total of 17,821 people over the shortened four days of shows and presentations. This is a 16% increase from last seasons' JFW and a 12% increase from 2009. Unfortunately only about half the amount of international buyers showed up compared to last seasons' JFW.   Overall, this is good news for Japan Fashion Week as it has been steadily improving since its inception and will continue to do so with more competitive designers and increased quality, a well Japanese designers truly understand the Japanese consumer which will always be an advantage.

Retail Economy Update

Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry reported Japan's large-scale retailers, including department stores reported their 15th consecutive month of declining sales in February.  Same-store sales at large-scale retailers decreased 4 percent to 1.4 trillion yen, while the overall retail market actually grew 4.2 percent to 10.4 trillion yen.

Is Japan Ready for Agent Provocateur?

British lingerie brand Agent Provocateur is ready to take on the world. Are they ready to take on Japan? Agent Provocateur currently has 47 stores worldwide in the UK, US, Paris, Milan, Berlin, Vienna, Copenhagen, and South Korea with plans to open over 50 more stores in the next three years in the cities Kiev, Prague, Toronto and Rome. Is Japan which is currently an untapped market ready for a luxury lingerie brand like Agent Provocateur? While it's true lingerie is starting to have a place in fashion collections, luxury lingerie has never really taken off in Japan. Take La Perla, the sexy Italian lingerie brand is carried in high-end department stores and has stand-alone stores in Roppongi and Aoyama, though they have also gone through several licensees over the past few years and sales never met expectations, as well Wacoal has developed their own high-end lingerie line and several other licensed high-end brands, i.e., Chanel, Chloe, Calvin Klein, and Donna Kara, have all tried to sell high-end luxury lingerie but orders are small and so are sales. In a country where lingerie sales are ruled by Triumph, Wacoal, Peach John, and Amos, and what you where underneath has never really been as important as what you where on top, high-end and expensive lingerie has never been a priority in Japan. Can Agent Provocateur a company who markets seduction and sexual innuendo be successful in Japan where most Japanese female consumers are not used to or even comfortable with sexy lingerie (not including Ravijour which advertises sexual innuendo but lacks the quality)?  If they are to be successful the key will be localization in their marketing, advertising, and product and size selection as well they will have to teach the Japanese female consumer to feel comfortable being sexy and willing to pay the high-end price tag that goes along with their high-end lingerie.

Takashimaya; First No H2O Merger and Now This...

It is not only Japanese department stores closing in Japan; it is also Japanese department stores closing in the US. It was announced today Takashimaya Co. will close their store in New York this June, completely vacating the US market. The 1,705 sqm store which opened in 1993 has recently been experiencing decreasing sales due to the ongoing recession in the US and reported sales of 20 million yen in 2009.

Takashimaya & H2O are a No Go

Due to the use of too many resources Takashimaya and H2O (Hankyu and Hanshin) have decided not to merge but instead develop separate business plan and work together on cost savings such as production and logistics. If merged the integration of Takashimaya and H2O would have been one of the largest retailers in Japan now that honor stays with Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings, a merger of Isetan and Mitsukoshi in 2007. With over a decade of declining sales and decreasing customers, department stores in Japan are under pressure to increase sales and cut-costs by mergers and closing down non-performing stores.

Nanette Lepore Strives to be Number One

With the recession seemingly nearing its end New York-based Nanette Lepore is poised to take advantage of both U.S. and international growth opportunities including Japan where she strives to be the number one contemporary women's brand. Here with licensee Tokyo Style, Nanette Lepore's brand and business is steadily growing by opening new shop-in-shops, adding new stores and creating new Japan specific product categories.

Nanette Lepore known for her flirty and colorful merchandise, designs and licenses out handbags, swimwear, footwear, casual knitwear, pants, tops, skirts and a new fragrance. Experiencing growth at 20% a year from 2003 - 2008, Nanette Lepore survived the recession with a strong budgeting and restructuring costs and even grew in 2009 with $140 million in sales.

You can buy Nanette Lepore in Japan at Barneys, Isetan, Takashimaya and Seibu Ikebukuro with new shop openings in the works.

More from Topshop

Topshop, the UK designed and produced fast-fashion brand is taking the next step in localizing their Japan operations. As I blogged about earlier they are opening up to 15 new shops over the next 3 years including Ginza, Roppongi, Shibuya and Ikebukuro as well as Nagoya, Fukuoka, Hiroshima and Osaka's Umeda and Shinsaibashi. To keep their brand strategy consistent with the UK, Topshop has sent over a visual merchandiser to make sure the in-store layouts and window displays are consistent with Topshop UK stores.

Now onto the localization - Topshop designs and produces everything in the UK and with the opening of their Shinjuku store this September, Topshop will start collaboration with a yet-to-be-announced Japanese designer for their men's brand - this will surely enrich the brand and win over Japanese consumers. High marks to Topshop for their forward thinking and commitment to Japan.

Shinmai Creator's Project 2010-2011 A/W Collection

Last evening I attended the Shinmai Creator's Project for the start of the 10th Japan Fashion Week. The shortened JFW started out at Tokyo Midtown long before 6pm with people lucky enough to have the in-demand tickets lining up early. I arrived at 5:55pm and with my invitation was shown to the front of the line, though not without some sour faces directed at me and my entourage. The Shinmai collection was shown in Tokyo Midtown Hall/Hall A and was packed with rows of chairs and rows of people overflowing into the aisles. I and my clients from Sweden are quite tall, so we gave up our front row space and eventual seating to several petite Japanese women who I am sure enjoyed the show from their 2nd row vantage point.

Disclaimer: The below is only my opinion of the collections.

The show began with Akane Utsunomiya whose RTW women's collection was beautifully designed with a diverse mix of dresses, pants, one-pieces and coordinates. She used a lot of tans and beiges with sheer and transparent material; a first I have seen in a collection in Japan and by a Japanese designer. In my six years working in and with the retail fashion industry in Japan I have yet to witness sheer materials take off as a fashion staple or trend - as I believe Japanese women are still a little modest about showing their skin through their clothes.

The next collection was the Individualists by Louise Schwarze & Franck Pouchoulin. From the hypnotic music to the industrial ambiance the collection was very imaginative, and at one point I felt like I was watching a Bauhaus-themed movie. There was strong use of black, grey and white mixed with a few muted metallic-blues .

The 3rd collection was by Fabiola Arias.  This was a playful collection with lots of light colors and short dresses as well as creative head-pieces that could have come right out of the wolrd of fairies. The feeling among my group was this how the women dressed who would have attended Marie Antoinette's birthday party.

The last and closing collection was by A Degree Fahrenheit, by Yu Amatsu. The best way to describe this presentation was that of a long walk by a sad vampire. I was not quite sure what the theme was though there seemed to be a cross between European rock star glamour and the world of Blade Runner. The clothes were truly monotone as was the music and ambiance, with the creative hair-styles looking like something Helen Bonham-Carter would have in a Tim Burton movie. This was a collection better to start the evening off with rather than close the presentations.

I was honored to be invited to the 2nd Shinmai Creator's Project and excited to watch all five of these designers.  Best of luck to them and the rest of the desginers at the 10th JFW.

Here We Go Again

For the 24th straight month sales at Japanese department stores have fallen.  According to the Japan Department Store Association sales at Japanese department sales fell 5.4% to 436.4 billion yen.  Sales in the Tokyo area fell 6.5% to 107 billion yen.

With department store sales falling and more department stores closing; Isetan Kichijoji, Yurakucho Seibu (this December 2010), departments stores are pouring millions of yen into renewals - instead of addressing the real problems with the stores and their outdated strategy.

In this current economy and with Japanese consumers' changing priorities and increased maturity, Japan’s department stores can no longer afford to maintain the status quo, this is simply not enough if the department stores want to stop losing shoppers, losing sales and finally losing more department stores.

Sales Ranking of Major Global Apparel (Fast-Fashion) Companies

With the economy still recovering, apparel companies are quickly expanding their global operations by offering quality (well most companies) at low prices. Competition is especially intense in Japan, China and India - where a real middle class economy is emerging.

The company rankings in order are...

1. H&M

2. Inditex - Owner of Zara, etc...

3. GAP

4. Limited Brands - Owner of Express, Victoria's Secret, etc...

5. Fast Retailing - Owners of Uniqlo, GU, UJ, etc...

Fast Retailing's goal by 2015 is to be the world's largest apparel company. To achieve that goal they are forecasting sales of 5 trillion yen and 4,000 stores.

Do you think Fast Retailing can do become number one in the world?

News of Note: Kobe, Japan

According to Japan’s Ministry of Trade and Industry, Kobe and its surrounding area Hyogo prefecture, registered sales of clothing and accessories at large scale retailers of about 220 billion yen.  Kobe is Japan's sxith largest city with 1.53 million people.

Michael Kors Japan

Toshiaki Tashiro has found a new home, this time with Michael Kors Japan K.K..  Tashiro has a strong history and proven success with fashion brands in Japan, working with Gucci, and consulting for Tom Ford, Tod’s, Ermenegildo Zegna and Valentino, and heading Abercrombie & Fitch in Japan for a short time several years ago during their first attempt in entering Japan. 

Exporting his lifestyle concept to Japan, Michael Kors will open his first 1,400 sqf boutique in Omotesando come this September followed by shop-in-shops in department stores in February 2011.  The boutique and shop-in-shops will carry the designer’s fragrances and accessories, including handbags, shoes, eyewear and watches.
How do you think Michael Kors lifestyle concept stores will do in Japan?

 

Fast-Fashion Copies Luxury

While shopping in Celine in Omotesando did you fall in love with Phoebe Philo’s leather-trimmed, a-line skirt, but were not in love with the price?  Don't worry you can just walk down Omotesando-dori to the Harajuku Zara and but their fast-fashion copy.

What do you think about fast-fashion brands copying and slightly changing the designs of luxury fashion houses?

Sayonara Isetan Kichijoji

This past Sunday 14 March another of Japan's struggling department stores closed. With the closing of the doors of the Isetan Kichijoji department store ended more than 38 years of operations.

Japan's department stores have been suffering for years with losing customers, decreasing sales, intensifying competition and now with the slow-recovering economy the Isetan Kichijoji department store was forced to close its doors.

At 7pm on Sunday as the doors closed the manager bowed, and customers new and old shed a tear, but don't shed too many tears as this surely will not be the last department store too close in Japan.

Topshop's Japan Expansion

The steady increase and popularity of fast-fashion, fueled by the slow-recovering economy and the changing fashion-priorities of Japanese consumers, is welcoming another fast-fashion expansion - this time by Topshop. Topshop, in Japan through a joint venture including the Mori Building Co., will open up to 15 new stores in major cities throughout Japan over the next three years. This month a new Topshop will open in Yokohama, followed by Sapporo in April and then a new flagship in Shinjuku and Osaka next year. Plans are also already underway for Topshops in Nagoya and Fukuoka. Topshop which carries women's and men's and RTW and ACC is very affordably priced and has sales targets of up to 15 billion yen annually.

Will there be a Topshop near you?

Muji Beauty

This Friday 19 March the operator of Mujirushi Ryohin stores will launch its first "Muji Beauty," shop. The 80sqm outlet will open in Fukuoka and feature beauty supplies. Muji Beauty will target women in their 30's with their fast-beauty products and will cost up to 1/5th less than similar products at department stores.

The opening of Muji Beauty comes at a time when fast-beauty products are expanding their sales in Japan. Plaza Style's "Plaza Beautilicious" stores and Tokyu Hands' "Hands Be" cosmetics stores are also expanding into the discount-beauty product market.

There is fast-fashion, fast-footwear, fast-suits and now fast-beauty, what is the next fast-fashion product?

Fast-Fashion Suits

In one of my entries from last week I blogged about Aoyama Trading Company selling suits along with other merchandise at a discount of up to 90%. Today I learned AEON is also getting into the fast-fashion suit mix by offering men's suits under its private label brand Topvalu. Starting 20 March you will be able to purchase slim fit, regular fit and relaxed fit suits for 7,800 yen which usually sell for 9,800 yen. In 2000, Aeon launched 10,000-yen suits and has sold a total of 4.5 million suits over the decade. Again, I hope this is just a brief trend due to the continued weakness of the economy. I am a fan of fast-fashion though readily draw the line at fast-suits. If a suit costs 10,000 yen then expect it to look like a 10,000 yen suit.

The 10th Annual JFW "Not" featuring Yoji Yamamoto

With troubled finances and an absence from the Paris collections for the past 2 seasons, Yoji Yamamoto is returning to his old stomping ground Tokyo for a one-off show. The show, which will take place at one of Tokyo’s historic Olympic stadiums, will not be held during JFW's calendar 22-26 March, nor will it necessarily be a fall/winter presentation, instead he will show on April 1st with the collection's theme yet to be announced. Yamamoto launched his first men’s collection in Paris in 1984 and this will be his first time in almost 20 years he will present a men's collection in Tokyo. This will be good for Japan to have one of their own designers who have been successful worldwide to return and show in Tokyo. Could this be the start of a new trend? Will other Japanese designers who have been successful abroad return to show their presentations? Imagine the collections of Issey Miyake, Hanae Mori, and more gracing Tokyo's runways...

Introducing GLS.2

Glamour-Sales.com is busy of late. Not only are they launching in China soon, in Japan they also just launched version 2 of their exclusive, invitation-only online marketplace for discounted branded goods and lifestyle services. The launch of GLS.2 coincides with Glamour-Sales.com reaching 100,000 members in February, and puts them on track for 130,000 members by the end of this month.

The new GLS.2 has a brighter style with easier navigation and has some new additional ways to collaborate and innovate with brands. One of the new features and one of my favorites is the new trend advisors
http://glamour-sales.com/trendadvisors. With the new trend advisors you can follow your favorite advisor(s) on Glamour-Sales.com, through their own personally-linked blog and of course stay-up-to the minute with them via their tweets. There are 50 members who make up the trend advisors who in addition to their own personal blogs will be great word-of-mouth agents for GLS and their brands. Another new feature on GLS.2 which will launch soon is mirror site with the fashion magazine SPUR.

The launch of GLS.2 will allow Glamour-Sales.com to reach their goal of being the most qualitative and most social private sales website in Japan!

Check in soon for my review of the Glamour-Sales.com new iPhone application at www.glamour-sales.com/iphone

Filson Japan

This past Monday on March 8th Kansai-jin experienced what Tokyo-jin experience on a daily basis - a new store opening.  Filson, an American outdoor store chose Osaka, Japan for their first international store and only their 3rd store worldwide, with the other two in Seattle and Portland, USA.  The new Filson store is located on the second floor, covers 53 sqm and carries clothing, bags, flannels, boots, home goods and even dog accessories.   Filson opened their new Osaka store in partnership with their longtime Japan distributor Goldwin, Inc.  If you are not familiar, Filson's brand and merchandise are based on traditional American goods and style and will fit in quite nicely in Japan, where American-heritage brands are still extremely popular. 

To get your outdoor gear go to 1-6-20, Minami-Horie, Nishi-ku, Osaka, Japan.

Days-of-the-Week by Stella McCartney

Over the weekend while I was in Matsuya department store in Ginza, I thought it would be a good chance for me to catch up on some of the brands and their latest collections.  One of the stores I went to was Stella McCartney.  I have always been a big fan of her designs and this trip was not a disappointment.  Along with the colorful sundresses, bags and accessories, one product in particular admittedly caught my eye - days-of-the-week-panties.  As a man I have always wondered do women really wear days-of-the-week panties in day order?  If they do then Stella McCartney's take on days-of-the-week panties will give them a reason to be rebellious and change the order they wear them in as these silk blend briefs have lace trim and floral embroidery that’s different for each day.  They come in a sweet mini-dresser set and with a price tag under 20,000 yen for the set it's no wonder why women in Japan are excited for each new day!

To get your Stella McCartney days-of-the-week panties go to the 4th floor of Matsuya Department Store at 3-6-1 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo.

Luxury Sales on the Rebound?

According to February’s MasterCard Advisors SpendingPulse, a monthly report that tracks consumer spending in the US, US luxury sales experienced a 15% increase in February 2010 compared to February 2009, and as well saw an 8.1% increase in January 2010 compared to January 2009.  Since the number three luxury market is slowly rebounding does this mean Japan the number one luxury market (still for now) will rebound too?

Would you buy a fast-fashion suit?

Diving deeper into the market with their discount merchandise, leading men’s wear retailer Aoyama Trading Co. will open a mega store outlet in Ueno this Saturday 6 March. The opening is aimed at Tokyo’s young, urban consuemers and will carry only one year old, unsold clothing and accessories from the Suit Company and Universal Language with discounts ranging from 30-90%.  The 1,500 sqm store, which will be one of the largest outlets in central Tokyo, is forecasting first year sales of 1 billion yen.  Will Japanese consumers’ thirst for all things trendy and fast-fashion extend to suits?  Let’s hope not too much as remember you get what you pay for, and aren’t quality suits one of the things you should pay a lot for?

Cavalli Osaka Takashimaya

On Tuesday 2 March Cavalli opened up their new boutique in Osaka Takashimaya.  This is the third shop-in-shop boutique in Japan for Florence, Italy-based Cavalli which already sells in 30+ multi-brand shops throughout Japan.  Cavalli president Gianluca Brozzetti believes there is still a strong luxury market in Japan despite sales declining 10% in Japan for 2009, which far outpaced worldwide decline for Cavalli.  “There is a still a bright future for luxury and fashion brands” in Japan, Brozetti said. “What is very important is to understand the client and what they want to buy.”   

Gianluca Brozzetti believes 2010 will be a transitional year for Cavalli, though one where expansion can take place in Asia, which is still underdeveloped for Cavalli with only 58 shops Asia-wide. 

Check out the the new Cavalli shop on the 2nd floor of the East Zone in Osaka Takashimaya 5-1-5 Namba, Chuo-ku, Osaka.

Uniqlo is at it again

Fast Retailing's Uniqlo again experienced another increase in their same-store comparative sales.  For Februay 2010 Fast Retailing announced a 1.8% increase in sales due to their new spring line. 

Except for January 2010, which saw popular fall and winter stocks depleted and July 2009 due to the rainy season, Uniqlo has enjoyed over 13 months of sales growth. 

With their newly launched UJ line and Uniqlo shoes as well as their very low-priced denim line GU, Fast Retailing's is on track to meet their own global growth forcase of 1 trillion yen by year-end 2010. 

Barneys Japan Goes Green with Agyness Deyn

Those of you lucky enough to be in Kobe this Friday 5 March will be able to visit the new Barneys store and shop for the new collaboration between Barneys Japan and British model Agyness Deyn.  As part of Barneys “Go Green” environmental campaign Agyness Devin teamed up with Barneys Japan to produce an 11 piece collection including dresses, knits, scarves, t-shirts and leggings ranging from 18,900 yen to 27,300 yen, with a portion of the proceeds going towards tree planting in inner Mongolia.  Sorry Tokyoites you will have to wait until Saturday 13 March where you can buy the collection at Barneys Shinjuku store.

To buy the collection by Agyness Deyn go to Barneys.

Kobe store 25-24-2, Kyomachi, Cyuo-ku, Kobe-shi
Shinjuku store 3-18-5 Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo