When Arc'teryx set out to evolve its business to incorporate its appreciation for craft, the Canadian outdoor clothing brand looked to Japan. Japanese artisans are globally recognised for their forensic attention to detail, so it’s little wonder that the brand chose to create a dedicated design hub in the country. Dubbed the Tokyo Creation Center (TCC) the project was conceived as a base for designing and creating innovative prototypes and products, as well as a local community gathering space where fans of the brand can flaunt their treasured Arc’teryx pieces.
The Arc'teryx Tokyo Creation Centre
The brand’s name derives from Archaeopteryx Lithographica – the first reptile to develop feathers for flight and adapted for climbing – and symbolises Arc'teryx’s ‘disruptive evolution and human progress in the outdoors’, as the brand states in its manifesto. In the same context, the TCC’s ultimate goal is to invite in everyone and everything that influences an Arc'teryx project and allow the ensuing interaction to inform and push forward its development process. This cross-pollination and openness show in everything the brand touches – from new products to the concept of the TCC.
For Arc'teryx, the goal is not only to make products, but to develop a deep artistry with a practical focus on problem-solving. ‘This philosophy has been part of the brand since the beginning,’ says Katie Becker, the brand’s chief creative officer. ‘We could take four years to make that one thing and there's no deadline for us. Plus, the fact that athletes are part of the design process [is crucial]. I always say, in Vancouver, we're designing, but then we take it into the mountains, and that's where we get proof of concept.’
Senior creative consultant Kei Hirosawa first encountered the brand while searching for new products for Beams Japan, the pioneering lifestyle retailer, in the 1990s. Today, he collaborates with Arc'teryx on both product and culture, and also serves as its unofficial historian (he owns dozens of pieces that he happily hauls out to flaunt for anyone who asks). ‘This brand is not just a name on a product,’ he says. ‘If you took away the logo, the quality and entire product endures with amazing results for the users.’
Adds Becker: ‘People come up to me and show me jackets from 20 years ago and they still look great. Some of these pieces might need a little repair job with our repair program, but people don’t want to get rid of them, they want to keep them forever. And that’s the kind of love we’re talking about.’
This resonates fully with the concept of the new TCC. Arc'teryx asked Torafu Architects to reimagine a four-level building in the Daikanyama neighbourhood with a focus on expressing the essence of the brand – its connection to the mountains. ‘In this project, we wanted to incorporate Japanese craftsmanship and technology, so we collaborated with various artists and craftspeople,’ says Koichi Suzuno, founder of Torafu Architects.
‘We drew inspiration from their skills and used that to evolve the design. We formed teams with people skilled in woodworking, indigo dyeing, furniture making, ironworks, landscaping, and more, discussing Arc'teryx while working together to create.’
To that end, the top-level, open-air rooftop is also a Mount Fuji viewing space (on clear days) to inspire creative exchange. It comes complete with a hulking Yanase-cedar bench, positioned in an intimate circular formation. Below is the floor where the design team – a global collective of creatives and mountain athletes – are based. The ground level houses the equipment to develop prototypes – it’s here you will encounter the pattern makers, sewers, material specialists and project developers.
The building is flanked by outdoor space inspired by a blend of British Columbia’s coastal mountains and traditional Japanese gardens. In the basement is a multifunctional area where community events are hosted, and a conference room with a piece by washi artist Wataru Hatano, who based the work on the Kanji character ‘Yama’, meaning ‘mountain’ in English.
‘I think [this alignment with craft comes] from our DNA, it’s just who we are: like the term “otaku”, which is an obsessive, deep-dive focus into craft,’ says Howard Lichter, VP at the Arc'teryx Tokyo Design Center. ‘Even though our DNA is the coast mountains of BC, and Vancouver is our genesis, if a brand wants to grow, to evolve, to learn, they've got to get out of their point of origin – so it was inevitable that we came here to Tokyo.’
Arc'teryx already has its roots in the global epicentre for outdoor adventures, Vancouver; and a foothold in the international heartland for sports performance, the Pacific Northwest (the brand has a footwear office in Portland). Now, it has the world of craft covered in Tokyo. A solid trifecta that invites us all in – to see what divination Arc'teryx will come up with next.
Arc'teryx Tokyo Creation Center, 1-Chome-4-10 Aobadai, Meguro City, Tokyo, 153-0042, Japan
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