I got back from Tokyo yesterday.
I thought something was missing this time...then I realised I just feel comfortable there.
We (my brother and I) visited Harajuku, Aoyama, Omotesando, Shibuya, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Daikanyama, Ebisu, Naka-meguro, Roppongi, Takedashi and Tokyo Disney Sea.
I didn't take very many photos, but some of the things i liked (and some things i bought are below)

Highlights:

1. Girls in Disney Sea, asking to have a photo with us because our faces were nice! ahahahaha!

2. Guy in John Lawrence Sullivan store asking if I worked in fashion, then assuming I just lived in Tokyo.

3. Amazing kids on the streets of Aoyama and Naka-meguro.

4. Finding the Rick Owens store

5. Limi Feu in Daikanyama (though i regret not buying pants and will probably try to order some)

6. Guy dressed like a fighter pilot in Yohji in Aoyama

7. Falling in love with a wealthy American (Dr Pepper....yes, the drink :P )

8. Dean & Delucz doughnuts

9. Comme Des Garcons Trading Museum...actually just Comme Des Garcons in general.

10. Buildigs that actual in differ in physical appearance...and general experimental/avant garde/forward thinking design, without fear of being tacky/criticism. How will we ever progress without trying new things? Japan does it right! Also, Prada by Hertzog & deMeuron is never going to be whack.



This was a Tiny tiny house near GA Gallery, about 10 mins walk from Harajuku Station. I WANT TO LIVE IN IT, PLEASE!



This is the store front/facade of Louis Vuitton Roppongi. It's probably one of my favourite facade treatments i've ever come across. It is basically these plastic cylinders stuck between two sheet of glass. But the overal quality is this exceptionally rich golden light that leaks through onto the the street giving glimpses of the latest coats and shoes and bags inside. It just looks so expensive!!!! I need to find out who is responsible for it.



Tsumori Chisato Ginza. Totally delightful. Looks like a piece of Hansel and Gretel's cottage....or the feathers of a 1970s owl.



The twisted facade of an office block in Ginza. This was great because at street level the distortion is just a super subtle curve, which really throws you. Then you look up to see what on earth is going on, to see that the curve intensifies, but it still doesn't really make sense until you go around the corner and see the profile of the entire facade.



This was on the afternoon of the first day in our hotel lobby. We had just been exploring the Isetan side of Shinjuku and came back to find the sun playing hide and seek with Mt Fuji.




New Sneakers. Kind of a rip off of Kris Van assche for Dior Homme from a season or two ago...but MUCH cheaper. Plus i ove the shade of grey, and the patent bits have a subtle shimmery glitter through them too.




Fuji Instamax. Good because it's so tiny! Also, price for one of these in Australia ranges from $200-$300. Tokyo price= $100 (approx.) WIN!!!!




T-shirt from Comme Des Garcons Trading Museum. A seriously amazing space. I have been completely in love with the idea of displaying items of significant value, monetary or sentimental, for a long time now, and that is what this conceptual retail space does. You wander around these amazing gallery littered with display cases on loan from the V&A museum in London, filled with Stephen Jones hats, and Vintage Comme pieces around the place and elaborate models of buildings strewn with jewelery. It's just breath taking.
This picture, I think, is taken from one of the Magazines on display at the museum. I liked it most because it features the amazing shoes from the CDG women's SS10 collection.



Comme Des Garcons Homme cropped chinos. I was going to get navy, but decided this colour could be fun too. I bought them at 10 Corso Como in Aoyama. The staff there are always so friendly. A little more so than those at the actual CDG store one street across, I must say. I dropped my Blackberry and it hit one of the mirrors in the change room and made the hugest noise ever. I thought I would die....and that the mirror would break. So embarrassed!
n.b. Cropped trousers are HUGE in Tokyo with the boys right now. Skinny ankles everywhere!



I found this Hello Kitty x Undercover by Jun Takahashi (whose own store is completely gorgeous) at Kiddyland and jumped at te chance to buy it. Tshirts with this design on them are sold out, and reselling in excess of $500.



CDG PLAY white button up. A classic. I don't mind if you think CDG is "played out" or whatever. It will always be amazing to me....and much cheaper in Japan. :D
I came to realise, yet again how strong my admiration is for Japanese design again on my trip. Architecturally and fashion wise. Designers like Yohji and Limi Yamamoto and labels like Comme Des Garcons under the guidance of Rei Kawakubo consistantly produce items that are a reinterpretation of classic menswear pieces, but totally reinvent them through the subtlest tweaks of details or twists in proportion. It's just so honest.
Architecturally the same applies. There's sch an honesty. There are so many examples where the influences of traditional Japanese architecture are vivid, yet the reinterpretation is so intense that something entirely unique is produced. Case in point, SANAA's Dior Omotesando (sorry for always talkign about the same building). Lets take rice paper screens and make them so shiny they're Dior worthy.
Perfection!



Dip Dye cardigan from Zara. Cheap and cheerful. We don't have Zara in Oz.



Yohji Yamamoto black distressed leather stachel.
It's kind of huge and lovely.
I want it to look like Daul's bag (kind of)

This picture is taken from a magazine i found called STREET which is basically Fruits magazine, but of amazing people (mainly models at Fashion Week in Paris. It's probably the best magazine i have ever bought.

Magazine cover.



Comme Des Garcons STANDARD. My new smell. It actually smells like a box of Derwent pencils. The stuff dreams are made of!


Comme Des Garcons Patent Wallet.
I love the super bright shade of aqua green inside. I'm considering painting stripes of it down my blue wall in my room.
I'm really glad i found this. I've been watchin it on the Dover Street Market webshop for a while, but it's always sold out. I found it at 10 Corso Como.

Other brief notes.:
- Opening Ceremony promotes itself as a "revolutionary conceptual retail experience" but honestly has nothing on Dover Street Market, or even some of the signature stores in Tokyo. It's too much like props within a space, rather than creating an entirely alternate reality within which to try and buy clothing etc, as you would experience elswhere. That being said, things are laid out quite clearly and it's relatively easy to find what's where (clear divides between mens and womens)

- I never want to wear anything but Comme Des Garcons or Limi Feu or Yohji Yamamoto again.

- In Japan they sell Viktor & Rolf spectacles for very cheap. Around $200. I am yet to see them in Autralia. They had a really nice pair of mens specs that were kind of cat eyed, but masculine.

- I wanted to buy a new coat really bad, but then I came to realise, i like my old coat and there's something supremely comforting about always going back to the same coat, whenever it's cold, where ever i go, after so many year.

- I am still blown away by how readily available high quality products are in Tokyo. Truly a shoppers paradise.

8 comments:

  1. dear matthew, my sweet pants,
    you must take me with you next time! (early next year, yes?) <3

    horray for CdG Standard, i really want to smell it! and the bit about the girls asking for your photo because of your nice faces made me giggle so much! <3

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  2. Seems like you had a fun time! Love the purchases & Street is awesome but I still prefer FRUiTS.
    Haha nice faces, sounds like nice things :D

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  3. so many goodies purchased matt!
    i am looking forward to smelling your derwent pencil perfume and taking photos with your new pillow looking instamax!
    yayyyyyyy.

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  4. Wow Matt! You bought some wonderful things! Smelling like Derwent pencils, dear lord, i'm never going to let you leave my side!! What a fantastic scent! I cannot wait to see you, we've missed you so much but i'm so glad you had a brilliant time!

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  5. Wow, jealous, I really want to go to Japan (especially Tokyo, of course). Nice blog and sketches too.

    http://ganymedekids.blogspot.com

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  6. wow! i'm jealous. I just got myself a bottle of Standard by way of a friend in london, really like the smell, makes me think of a fancy paper shop.

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  7. Wow! I am so glad it seems you had such an amazing time in Tokyo! Thanks for sharing your time there and lovely pics. Amazing buys also, I love the YY bag!!!

    xoxo

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