Tomorrowland has landed in New York.
The influential Japanese retailer on Thursday will open the doors to its first Tomorrowland store outside Japan, a 3,500-square-foot boutique on Broome Street in SoHo.
The space, in a former art gallery, sports high ceilings, white columns, exposed brick walls and a skylight in the rear. There are oversize striped rugs offsetting the natural oak floors.
Although the details are New York, the design and assortment speak to the brand’s roots in Japan. All of the furniture and fixtures are from Japan and were assembled here.
The merchandise, too, is mainly Japanese and is centered primarily around the Tomorrowland label, with some third-party brands as well.
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Upon entering, customers are greeted with accessories from Want Les Essentiels. That flows into the women’s department, which is segmented by preppie looks, casualwear and more tailored apparel.
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Prices range from a wool cardigan retailing for $195, Japanese denim jeans fetching the same $195, a long mohair cardigan for $625 and a trenchcoat with a plaid interior selling for $780.
An assortment of jewelry from Japan is also offered along with men’s sportswear and tailored clothing and furnishings at the rear of the store.
The men’s prices include a cotton parka for $1,000, suits for $1,100 and dress shirts for $195.
Other brands at the store include Jean-Paul Knott, Shihara and Arquiste.
Tomorrowland was founded by Hiroyuki Sasaki 38 years ago. Since then, the company has grown to include a network of 160 stores across Japan and a large portfolio of its own brands as well as partnerships with major international labels such as Isabel Marant, Dries Van Noten, James Perse, Golden Goose Deluxe Brand and Acne in the Japanese market.
In an exclusive walk-through with WWD Wednesday, Sasaki said that with so many of those brands operating their own stores in SoHo, he feels welcome in the neighborhood.
At this time, the Tomorrowland label is sold at Barneys New York in the U.S. as well as a few other retailers such as A.K. Rikk’s. Barneys has carried the men’s line since last year and added women’s, which it has exclusively, earlier this year.
The success of the merchandise at Barneys gives the self-effacing Sasaki reason to believe the Tomorrowland store will do well here.
But that doesn’t mean he plans on massive retail expansion in the U.S. “I have no strategy beyond this,” he said. “This is enough.”