VF finds new Tokyo design base has Harajuku style
30/01/2023
In-house TDC designers will work alongside freelance creatives and domestic brands to design products shaped by “aspirational” Japanese artisanal techniques and a locally influenced streetwear aesthetic, the business said. It is intended to act as a hub where designers from across its portfolio of global brands can gather to co-create and soak up inspiration as part of a new group Design in Residence programme.
Harajuku’s reputation as a locus of youth culture and fashion will be key to realising the team’s ambitions in both Japan and the rest of the world, commented global brand president for Dickies, Lance Meller. Leveraging the customer insights it captures in such a “trend-setting market” can only help accelerate brand growth, he added.
“We will use this new centre to inspire new design concepts that not only connect with the Japanese consumer, but [also] translate and gain traction in other global markets as well,” concurred the company's president for North Asia and TDC, Mitch Whitaker.
The facility will hopefully result in something like a “global brand halo” effect for TDC-created products, Mr Whitaker continued, in line with what he called the group’s “Japan for Japan for the rest of the world” strategy.
Image: VF Corporation.
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