Explore the architectural grandeur of various fashion stores in the world’s fashion capital with architecture professional.

For decades, Japan has long been recognized for its leading and vibrant fashion industry globally. Tokyo especially is the prime location for luxury and designer brands, but what’s even more impressive is the city’s avant-garde architectural works that these stores are housed in. Over the past two decades, such fashion venues have developed into an area for both the architect and fashion designer to showcase their artistic intervention, and many celebrated Japanese and foreign figures have taken a part in this conversation. Take Kengo Kuma’s Tiffany building or Toyo Ito’s TOD’s Omotesando as example: Kuma’ idea for the façade’s illuminating metal sheets to represent the jewelry-cutting process is just as fascinating as Ito’s meticulously patterned concrete facades, which allow for a column-free, expansive interior for the merchandise display.

It is our pleasure to present a guided tour of Tokyo’s fashion-store architecture and take you to the flagship stores and shopping complexes in the prominent retail corridors of Tokyo. With a professional in contemporary architecture, you will visit Ginza, Aoyama, Omotesando, and Daikanyama to witness the works of many architects like Tadao Ando, and Toyo Iyo, who have marked a great presence on the international scene. As winners of world’s notable architecture awards, like the Pritzker Architecture Prize, the projects and theoretical writings of these individuals continue to explore a new way of perceiving humanity’s relation with architecture.

Architecture is where the form and function meet to create something extraordinary, and this certainly applies to fashion as well. A piece of clothing is supposed to be comfortable and beautiful at the same time, just as architecture – or fashion-store architecture – not only houses the products but also lives as a metaphor for the brand’s philosophy. Walking down the streets of Tokyo, filled with the world’s leading works of architecture, is both an inspiring and humbling experience. We hope you will join us to witness Tokyo’s contemporary architecture and feel the living passions of the fashion designers and architects.

FASHION & ARCHITECTURE: GUIDED TOUR TO EXPLORE TOKYO’S UNCONVENTIONAL FASHION-STORE ARCHITECTURE