TOKYO — DKNY has opened its first flagship in Japan here offering its full range of women’s and men’s wear, as well as home goods and the Pure DKNY line.
The store is located on “Cat Street,” a rising fashion street that runs through upscale Omotesando and adjacent Harajuku, which are popular with young people and across the Omotesando Boulevard. It is the 22nd DKNY flagship in Asia and 55th worldwide, according to Donna Karan Japan here.
The Tokyo flagship, designed by architect Bonetti Kozerski, features a unique facade with a huge neon DKNY logo that shines at night. The store has three-and-a-half floors — two floors and a loft-style semifloor for women’s and one basement floor for men’s, with a total space of about 6,500 square feet.
The store is expected to bolster DKNY’s brand image as well as sales. DKNY sales in Japan are currently in the range of 7 billion yen at retail annually, or $60.3 million at current exchange, according to Japanese press reports, while those of Donna Karan Collection or Donna Karan New York are reportedly 3 billion yen, or $25.9 million. Both collections are sold in more than 100 outlets, most of them shop-in-shops in department stores but including two directly operated stores in Japan.
The Tokyo flagship, modeled after DKNY’s main New York store, is designed, as one DKJ executive put it, “to bring New York to Tokyo.”
The concept of the Tokyo flagship as well as the products offered, it was explained, reflect the designer’s philosophy of life. There is an abundance of natural things — stairs and floors in oak and sunlight streaming even into the basement floor.
Pure DKNY, which manifests the designer’s lifestyle of easy comfort, is found on the half-floor, and ranges from home wear and bed linens to pillows and bags, in cotton, silk, cashmere and other natural materials. The line, which has been brought to Japan for the first time, is expected to find a growing market here.
The first floor is positioned as “main presentation,” where the latest collection and key colors for the season are presented. The second floor is for women’s collections, with half devoted to DKNY Jeans. As in the New York flagship, there are three video screens on one wall that run images of new designs and styles. There is an artistic bench chair made of glued-together newspapers designed and produced by Belgian artist Charles Kasin. The complete collection of accessories — from bags and hats to eyewear and watches — also is offered. There also is a limited-edition collection of exclusive “Cat Street” merchandise that includes mouton bags.
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Donna Karan Japan, which was acquired by Onward Kashiyama Co. in 1992, imports the Donna Karan New York line from the American company. Also, DKJ is the master licensee in Japan for the DKNY label and sells both locally manufactured and imported DKNY products here.
For the women’s line, skirts run about 30,000 yen, or $260 at current exchange; jackets, from 40,000 yen, or $345, to 50,000 yen, or $430, and coats, from 70,000 yen, or $603, to 80,000 yen, or $690.
The basement floor is exclusively for men’s wear and accessories. Oak wood stairs lead into streams of natural sunlight and past a large photo artwork of Times Square that symbolizes New York’s dynamism and energy. The floor presents a DKNY Men line of men’s wear and accessories, a DKNY Jeans line of men’s wear and accessories and a Pure DKNY segment of men’s wear.