Japanese craft meets London energy at Goldwin's new store

goldwin store london — Goldwin’s new store on London’s Broadwick Street

(Image credit: Goldwin)

Japanese technical-wear brand Goldwin has been making waves in the fashion world, following notable collaborations in 2025 with Comme des Garçons and Our Legacy (a tour of its futuristic Goldwin 0 factory, home to its experimental diffusion line, also hints at its ambition). This year, Goldwin’s ascent continues with the opening of three new stores in London, New York and Seoul. The London flagship, designed by Hiroshi Sugimoto and Tomoyuki Sakakida’s New Material Research Laboratory, is a statement of intent rendered in wood, light and air.

Located on Broadwick Street in Soho, the store’s design is rooted in traditional Japanese craftsmanship, yet acutely attuned to London’s position as a crucible of contemporary culture. The space is imagined as the ‘eye of the vortex’: a generative centre from which new creative currents spiral outward. Circularity underpins the entire concept: layers and rings radiate outward, echoing themes of cycle and flow.

As the team at New Material Research Laboratory explains, the central inspiration was ‘the natural formations of strata, created over an eternity of geological time’. The circle, a spokesperson for the brand adds, is ‘a form that physically anchors the space while symbolically embracing the five great elements of earth, water, fire, wind and void’.

At the heart of the interior stands a ring-shaped yashiro, or sanctuary. Described by New Material Research Laboratory as a ‘shrine-like structure’, it anchors the experience spatially and symbolically. Garments orbit its perimeter, transforming the yashiro into a stage or amphitheatre for Goldwin’s collections, while inviting visitors inward. ‘By positioning the central circular structure as the core of the space and arranging products around it, the entire store operates like a large show window that draws the eyes of passersby,’ says the brand.

Visible through the transparent facade, a digital canvas of 12 LED pillars encircles the yashiro, presenting flickering visuals that reflect seasonal transitions, natural imagery and the work of contemporary artists. ‘This allows the store to establish an identity not as a static environment, but as a living organism whose expression is constantly shifting,’ says New Material Research Laboratory. Within the ring, Akita cedar columns rise like a hushed forest, embodying traditional Japanese aesthetics and offering a serene counterpoint to the bustle of the street outside.

Even the fitting rooms reflect meticulous craftsmanship. Silk panels dyed using the traditional kakishibu method have been treated with persimmon tannin, producing a soft, luminous sakura-iro glow. ‘As a brand originating in Japan, we wanted to subtly infuse the space with a sense of Japanese character by using domestically sourced materials. While the exterior features LED elements, the interior side of the columns uses Akita cedar… [and] the fitting rooms [incorporate] silk crafted in Nanto City, Toyama Prefecture,’ the brand explains.

The result is a store that extends beyond retail. It becomes a ‘landscape’ – one that fuses tradition with innovation and art with technology. Instead of merely being a place to purchase garments, it provides ‘new inspiration and deeper awareness of coexistence’.

Goldwin, 35 Broadwick St, London W1F 0DH

TOPICS

Anna Solomon is Wallpaper’s digital staff writer, working across all of Wallpaper.com’s core pillars. She has a special interest in interiors and curates the weekly spotlight series, The Inside Story. Before joining the team at the start of 2025, she was senior editor at Luxury London Magazine and Luxurylondon.co.uk, where she covered all things lifestyle.