The Passion of New Japanese Fashion
Japan is one of the gates of Asia’s fashion has worldwide popularity. But for a matter of taste, it turns out, the Japanese fashion prefer fast fashion rather than luxury products.
This is evidenced by the rapid growth of American retail chain Forever 21 that recently opened in Matsuzakaya Department Store in the elite district of Tokyo, Ginza. We explored further, the opening of Forever 21 in Ginza is also the symbolism of a shift in consumer tastes Japanese fashion community.
Forever 21 which occupies five floors in Matsuzakaya replace Gucci boutiques and offers a range of latest fashion trends with low prices, such as tank tops for USD 4 (350 yen) or a skirt accented ruffles for 1580 yen, which is equivalent to USD17. “Forever 21 is the perfect place if you want to find a similar product designer collections, but with a much cheaper price,” says Fusako Suzuki, one of the direct consumers spent 10 000 yen (USD100) to shop at the store opening.
“With 10 000 yen, I can have eight items in Forever 21, which I can not necessarily get in the designer boutiques,” he said. Matsuzakaya itself, in a statement to the media stating that they replace Gucci with Forever 21 to attract more consumers, especially after the retail world hit pretty hard by the global crisis. New Forever 21 has two stores in Japan. Shop Forever 21 first opened last year and is located in Harajuku. At the time of its opening, Forever 21 makes a scene with a long line of customers who can not wait to get inside and shop.
Excitement not only occurs at the opening, but also up to one year thereafter, where Forever 21 Harajuku is still a favorite place for shopping for Japanese youth. When the first store targeting the youth market who are often gather in Harajuku, Forever 21 Ginza targeting a more mature target audience, including young mothers. Therefore, the Forever 21 clothing Ginza provides a special section of children.
In Ginza, Forever 21 brand compete with top fashion like Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Prada, and Hermes which offers exclusive products at a price thousands of dollars, as well as several fast-fashion retailers like H & M famous, Zara, as well as domestic retailer Uniqlo. “What makes the fast-fashion consumers are more popular because they provide variety and rapid product turnover, in addition to a more affordable price,” says fashion editor Paul McInnes Tokyofashion.com site.
“The reason it is making fast fashion is very popular in Japan, especially by young people are more fashionable than their parents,” he continued, while mentioning the fast fashion business in Japan is currently worth USD108 million per year. Forever 21 are a retail chain based in Los Angeles and has started its business since 1984. Forever 21 currently have 480 stores in 15 states and this year hopes to Forever 21 opened 10 new stores in Japan.
“We will open two more stores in May,” said Executive Vice President Forever 21 Lawrence Meyer. He also said the focus of expansion by Forever 21 in Japan because the country of origin Yohji Yamamoto is their biggest market in Asia. “We are very happy with the positive response given the Japanese consumers against Forever 21,” he concluded.