Retail Directory 2011

Marc Jacobs Aoyama

Tokyo

Marc Jacobs’ new flagship Aoyama store combines a touch of the designer’s trademark New York glamour with a Japanese lantern-inspired building designed by Stephan Jaklitsch, the American architect responsible for the design of Marc Jacobs stores worldwide. The distinctive three-storey, free-standing building, which received an award of excellence from the American Institute of Architects before it even opened in December 2010, conceptually represents three zones over almost 280 sq m: a completely transparent street-level ‘void’ housing the designer’s highly desirable bags, perfumes and ‘Marc Jacobs Aoyama’ T-shirts (the latter limited for sale in Japan only); ready-to-wear women’s fashion one level up in the ‘rock’ zone decorated with striated terracotta horizontal tiles; and the ‘lantern’, or kosakubutsu, which illuminates to create a striking beacon at night. A selection of Jacobs’ stylish menswear is available in the basement. The interiors throughout are a sophisticated blend of warm woods, modern metal, sleek shelves and huge mirrors. The building’s unique design and Japanese-like attention to craftsmanship more than holds its own with its architecturally famous neighbours, Herzog & de Meuron’s iconic Prada building and Jun Mitsui’s ‘The Jewels of Aoyama’.

5-3-27 Minami-Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Tel: 81. 3 6418 1188
www.marcjacobs.com