The store, which was opened Sunday, joins labels including
Givenchy, Prada and Marc Jacobs in the Tokyo neighborhood, and sits next
to Balenciaga. “The environment seems a good fit for McQueen — it’s
quite an open, contemporary environment, which we like,” said Jonathan
Akeroyd, chief executive officer at Alexander McQueen. “Of all the areas
in Tokyo, I think that was the natural fit for our brand. We’ve taken
our time to make sure we get the right space.”
The two-story store carries Alexander McQueen’s men’s and women’s wear
collections, including runway looks, ready-to-wear designs and
accessories, and will also showcase the house’s classic pieces, such as
its skull scarves and knuckle-box clutches. The Aoyama store adds to an
Alexander McQueen accessories unit, which opened last year in Tokyo’s
Roppongi Hills neighborhood. Prior to opening the Aoyama store, the
label’s presence in Japan was primarily through its shops-in-shop in
department stores, which the company operates. Akeroyd noted that while
Japan is an “important” part of the firm’s business, it’s a smaller
market for the label than the U.S. or China.
“I think that’s because [Japan] is very much a retail model,” Akeroyd
said, “So I think this [store] really will be the start for us being
able to build on that.” While Akeroyd declined to provide sales
projections for the new store, he said he expects it to be “an important
store within our portfolio.”
The new store showcases the retail concept conceived by Sarah Burton,
creative director of Alexander McQueen, in partnership with David
Collins Studio. Designed in a palette of gray, lilac, white and soft
gold, the store features a cracked white Calacatta Oro marble floor,
with pale gray leather furnishings clad in marble, along with black
lacquer rails.
The boutique’s design spotlights a number of details that are unique to
the space. They include walls covered in plaster paneling, with one
panel that features a molded motif of wings, shells, cactus flowers, sea
horse tails, skulls, gargoyles and leaves. Akeroyd noted that the
process of modeling the panel specifically for the store took about two
months. “It’s something that has a lot of consideration,” he said. “It’s
important from Sarah’s point of view that we adapt and change [the
store concept] so that it doesn’t feel like you’ve been there before.
For customers that travel, it’s important to see a bit of personality
there.”
Other details include a staircase crafted from a single piece of white
marble, along with an artwork that the house commissioned from
contemporary artists Takeo Hanazawa and Takao Togashi. The piece is a
chandelierlike structure suspended from the store’s ceiling, which hangs
down the center of the staircase. The piece is inspired by a Japanese
ink paint called the “Hyonenzu,” and features hanging sculptures of
gourd vessels, catfish, skulls and shell fragments.
In terms of further retail openings, Akeroyd said Alexander McQueen will
open its third store in China, in Chengdu, this summer, with openings
in Monaco, Vienna and Harbour City in Hong Kong — the label’s third
store in the region — set for later this year.
Alexander Mcqueen, Alexander Mcqueen Japanese Flagship, Japanese
Flagship, Luxury Stores, Givenchy, Prada And Marc Jacobs, Jonathan
Akeroyd, White Marble, Takeo Hanazawa, Takao Togashi,
