Looks like the folks at the Ace Hotel are taking their material collaborations East, all the way East to Tokyo. The burgeoning Pacific Northwest hotel group opened a holiday pop up shop late last week on the 5th floor of the Shinjuku Isetan. If you have ever been to that Isetan store you will know, that baby is a monster with a pretty amazing variety of some of the best the world has to offer. The Ace shop looks great and I’m sure will be a big hit with the Japanese.
It seems that it is easier to find cool American stuff in Japan than in the U.S. Nanamica — one of my favorite stores in Tokyo — only seemed to reinforce that belief. The company holds the Japanese license for Filson, Champion, The North Face and other American brands. Nanamica also designs and produces the Japan-only The North Face Purple Label collection. You can’t physically pick up the any of the Purple Label goods in a store without 1. falling in love and 2. having the salesperson point out that the range is only for the Japanese market. I always wanted to politely respond to the sales associates that I could tell that collection was specifically designed for Japan because it wasn’t fucking ugly like in America.
One of my missions in Japan was to check of the Asian capital’s popular bicycle scene. The city is very bicycle friendly compared, obviously, to most cities in the U.S. What was most interesting to me is the fact that while people in Tokyo lock up their bikes (most of the time), the locks are pretty simple. Not like the insane measures NYers have to go through. As I wandered the expansive metropolis, I would see all types of people riding bicycles — many in their work clothes, women frequently in heels and lots of track bikes.
One would think that as a New Yorker I should be used to walking. This morning I awoke to the scream of my blistered feet, begging for mercy. Yesterday was another trip into the seemingly never ending Tokyo shopping labyrinth. I took things slower, explored more carefully and found some of the previously elusive spots. The streets are mostly unmarked, and initially, fairly difficult to navigate to a new comer. The highlight of the day was the breathtaking Zaha Hadid designed Neil Barrett store. I have been a huge fan of Mr. Barrett for sometime, ever since I found my favorite sweater coat years ago. My other favorite was the Beams+ hunting lodge / store in Shibuya. Can they open a store in New York? I would shop there everyday.
Prior to coming to Japan I thought New York was the best shopping city in the world. Talk about epic misconceptions. Tokyo has some of the coolest stores I have ever seen. I spent the better part of today wandering around Shibuya, Shinjuku and Harajuku. What I saw was just the tip of the iceberg. The highlights were Tomorrowland, United Arrows, the Journal Standard shops (Furniture, JS Homestead), Prada in Aoyama and my favorite Tokyu Hands. Some store photos (in the craze of things I didn’t shoot every store) from day one are below.
