TOKYO — Juicy Couture fever is heating up in Japan.
In March, the Los Angeles brand had a soft opening for the first Juicy Couture flagship in the Japanese capital’s Aoyama district. On Wednesday, as light pink cherry blossoms were in full bloom in Tokyo, Gela Nash-Taylor, who codesigns the brand with Pamela Skaist-Levy, flew in for the boutique’s official opening and to meet Japan’s Juicy junkies.
“I love the location in this glamorous atmosphere of Aoyama,” Nash-Taylor said last week, while giving a final polish to the store’s interior. The three-story unit is located at 5-5-5 Minami Aoyama, within walking distance of the Prada and Miu Miu stores, two of Nash-Taylor’s favorites. “In Ginza there are so many tall buildings, and Shinjuku’s atmosphere is different from what Juicy Couture is looking for,” she said. “Aoyama has a special atmosphere. This is the place for Juicy Couture to show the entire world of the brand.”
The 2,400-square-foot flagship offers women’s and men’s wear and accessories such as shoes and sunglasses, as well as fun items like dog apparel and iPod cases. Juicy Couture also opened shop-in-shops in Yokohama, Chiba, Niigata and Sapporo this spring, bringing the number in Japan to 10. Sanns Freres, the brand’s Japanese distributor, hopes for 50 Juicy stores in this celebrity- and fashion-obsessed market.
The store here has a large number of limited-edition products, such as special women’s T-shirts for 10,500 yen, or about $89 at current exchange rates; handbags for 49,350 yen, or $419; necklaces for 13,650 yen, or $116, and men’s polo shirts for 15,750 yen, or $134.
Juicy Couture’s signature emblem greets visitors at the glass entrance door of the off-white store. Once inside, customers find a large showcase table topped with the message “Smells Like Couture.” Multi-colored sweets such as Chupa Chups lollipops and Hershey’s chocolates, as well as tea sets, are cheerfully displayed, creating the feel of a fun home party in California. “We are doing what we want to do,” Nash-Taylor said. “Everything is based on our feeling.”
The second floor boasts the world’s first Juicy Couture men’s corner, a sleek black area featuring graphic printed shirts by John Taylor (Nash-Taylor’s husband and the bass player in Duran Duran) displayed on a big table made of five letters spelling the word “trash.” A sofa near the table has the words “Bloody Luxury” painted on the back, and is positioned near two skull displays. The nearby Couture Couture area, which is painted white, feels like a private walk-in closet. “It’s an intimate space,” said Nash-Taylor.
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The company did not disclose sales projections for the store. Paul Charron, chairman and chief executive officer of Juicy’s parent, Liz Claiborne Inc., who was in town for the festivities, said the brand had exceeded expectations and is “now a phenomenon.”
“Many people are fond of Juicy Couture’s lifestyle of fashion, L.A. and quality,” he added, “and the business increase has given us confidence for further expansion.”
Juicy Couture plans to launch watches, fragrance and infants’ and children’s wear, as well as cosmetics and a home collection.
Asked to comment on Nash-Taylor’s remark that “Liz Claiborne is a sugar daddy,” Charron laughed and explained that the investment is very meaningful for the entire apparel group. “Juicy Couture is the explosive brand and so far we managed it very well,” he said, adding the brand had grown from $50 million at wholesale at the time of Claiborne’s 2003 acquisition to $300 million currently. “We’ve done it without opening new points of distribution other than a couple of stores. This year, we will open 17 shops, including flagships in San Francisco and New York. Having the flagship in Aoyama at this time means a lot.”
Claiborne has launched several of its brands in Japan, but “the business is still underdeveloped,” said Charron. Bringing Juicy Couture to Japan’s fashion capital is an important test for the entire group.
Nash-Taylor has been to Japan many times since she visited Kyoto on her honeymoon with John Taylor, and she gets a lot of inspiration here for new products. “I want to make a sushi charm now,” she said. “I just enjoyed a green-tea ice cream at a newly opened shop near here.”
Four hundred guests were invited to the “L.A. Night”-themed opening party, which took place in two locations: first at the shop, then at a temporarily built party house in front of the Memorial Picture Gallery. The company hired 50 black Japanese taxis to transport revelers between the two sites. Accessorized with a tiara fit for a queen, Nash-Taylor appeared in a white Couture Couture dress, posed by a fridge packed with edible treats, and mingled with Japanese editors and local celebrities. On their way out, guests were given a limited-edition T-shirt emblazoned with the words “Viva la Juicy” in Japanese.