LONDON — British designer Nick Wakeman of Studio Nicholson, a coed brand known for its fluid tailoring and fine fabrics, is fulfilling a long-held ambition, opening the first in a series of stores in Japan, a market that has long inspired her personally and professionally.
The Tokyo flagship, which opens Friday, is located in the buzzy Aoyama district and spans 764 square feet. It stocks the men’s and women’s collections and resembles the brand’s Broadwick Street store in London’s Soho, but with a few tweaks.
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It is located near Lina Stores, the Italian restaurant and delicatessen chain, and fashion brands including Lemaire, Prada and Pleats Please Issey Miyake.
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Wakeman, whose title is founder and creative director, said the plan is to open four to five stores in Japan over the next three years, and take the brand to locations outside Tokyo, such as Osaka.
“This is a seminal moment for me — the country informs all of my taste levels and design,” said Wakeman, who has been traveling between London and Tokyo since 1999 when she first began working in Japan, well before launching Studio Nicholson.
Japan, she added, is the most important market for Studio Nicholson because buyers and customers prioritize clothing made with high-end fabrics, and because other key markets, such as South Korea and China, have their eyes locked on the country’s fashion and retail trends.
She described it as chiefly a menswear market, adding that the local customers and buyers are the most demanding she’s seen.
“Quality, fabrication and silhouette are the priorities. They are so concerned with fabrication — it is as important as shape, silhouette and storytelling,” said Wakeman, who launched the brand in 2010 and who has always prioritized functionality and fabric.
“Clothing should improve our mood, move when we do, and never look outdated,” she said last fall ahead of Studio Nicholson’s collaboration with Zara on a 12-part capsule collection.
The brand’s signature tailored, fluid trousers are made from materials including showerproof cotton twill; viscose, and “tactile” Italian powder cotton.
Wakeman pays great attention to the make and feel of fabric. The brand’s website goes into detail about the materials it uses, with information including the weight of denim used for trousers, and the specialist London atelier where they were made.
The Tokyo store is Studio Nicholson’s fifth worldwide and has opened in partnership with the trading company Kowa. Studio Nicholson has been doing business in Japan for more than a decade.
It has three stores in South Korea, which operate in partnership with Samsung, and one in London. The brand trades through 250 stores worldwide including Lane Crawford, Browns, Harrods and Ssense.
Wakeman designed the Tokyo unit herself and it resembles the London store, with modular wooden boxes in different heights and sizes. They double as clothing displays and are designed to be interchangeable.
The floor is different, however. It’s been made from poured concrete and covered in Plexiglas.
Next up is a second London store, a greater focus on China and “conquering the rest of Europe,” according to Wakeman. She also has a series of collaborations in the works.