BEAMS CULTuART x Komiyama x Find of the Week

Written by: Michael Keferl on May 1, 2009 at 11:01 pm | In LIFESTYLE / FASHION | 3 Comments

This week we had the pleasure of attending the opening party for the BEAMS CULTuART collaboration with Komiyama Shoten, a classic Jimbocho publishing district house.

Until May 15th, CULTuART will be featuring books, original prints, silkscreens, vintage photos, and more in collaboration with Komiyama, and there’s a lot of amazing stuff there right now for those interested in Tokyo history.

Most interesting for us are the books of “street shots” taken in the last decades documenting fashion and culture in Tokyo as it emerged from the war and became what it is today. They aren’t cheap (all out of print and rare) but well worth checking out.

My personal favorite, however, was probably the lowest-priced item in the shop! CULTuART has its own limited edition clear version of the Electromotive Injection Machine model from Bandai…

Yes, it’s a model of a plastic injection molding machine, but it’s not just any mold. This is a scale model of the EC 160, the machine that is used to make parts for Gundam figures! While not a huge figure-head myself (see: Danny Choo), I couldn’t help but love how far figure fanatics will go with their love. Below are some pictures of the real thing as seen on the box:

There’s a great series of photos from the Bandai Factory, but this guy put the original version together on his blog. Mine is below:

Kind of reminded me of the gashapon machine I saw here years ago that dispensed…tiny gashapon machines. Now all I want is a scale model of the injection machine that makes the Electromotive Injection Machine model and I will be complete.

Tags: Beams, Collaborations
Category: LIFESTYLE / FASHION
Other categories: MARKETING IDEAS, DIGITAL LIFE, PRODUCT INNOVATIONS

BEAMS TOKYO CULTuART aggregates Tokyo urban culture & art

Written by: Michael Keferl on January 5, 2009 at 2:46 pm | In LIFESTYLE / FASHION | 4 Comments

If you wanted to sum up your city in one room without making it cluttered, what would you put in there? This is precisely the challenge that TOKYO CULTuART, a new project and shop from BEAMS in Harajuku, is taking on since its opening two weeks ago.

While their main business is design and apparel (ranging from casual to business to t-shirts), culture is also a valuable commodity, a point not lost on BEAMS RECORDS. CULTuArt is in the culture business, taking the best of Tokyo’s art and design scenes and letting it all play together, regardless of medium or genre.

Recently we were lucky enough to spend some time with Nagai-san, the General Manager of CULTuART and a mainstay at BEAMS for over two decades. According to Nagai, CULTuART is an aggregator of urban Tokyo, bringing its many faces and artists into one place that acts as both retail outlet and museum.

YAMANAYA pieces from famed figure-maker M1GO

From the Gundam figures of Akihabara to design books and prints found in Ueno, CULTuART spans the urban landscape of modern Made in Japan, shows it to the world, and makes it available to the masses all at once. The contents reflect the tastes of modern Japanese, but also those of its curator who values a piece’s cultural and aesthetic qualities at once.

The shop is decidedly down-to-earth in its sensibilities, but that doesn’t mean it comes with a small price tag. While Modoka Morikawa’s Peloqoon stuffed figures can go for around $150, one-of-a-kind pieces like the Doraemon stained-glass lamp from Pucci (seen in the slideshow) can exceed $7000. This is surely the nature of bringing in the best of the best, and makes it a great stop for both foreign and local visitors to get a solid overview of Tokyo culture and design in a very pop-culture kind of way.

Technology certainly has its place in CULTuART’s space as well. Aside from multiple Mac models open for use, they’ve also created a special browser-based application for iPhone and iPod Touch devices. Each item has its own number which, when clicked on, brings up detailed information about the piece and its artist in both Japanese and English. If you have one of the devices yourself, click here to browse on your own, and check out pieces like MODERHYTHM’s very cool CHUBU 01, pictured below.

Gadget-less customers can get loaners to use during their browsing time, but Nagai-san notes that devices integrated with the shopping experience are going to expand even more in the coming years, incorporating RFID and other technologies to better provide interactive information about the displays.

For the next step in its evolution, CULTuART is expanding to bring the best of Tokyo to other major cities around the world, though they haven’t made any firm plans yet as to where they’ll be going. Since they’re interested in spreading culture, a unique or unusual location (in our opinion anyway) would be far more interesting than the usual suspects.

However, the concept can work both ways as well, as many Japanese are increasingly travel-minded and appreciative of other cultures. TOKYO CULTuART would be interesting in Brooklyn, but how about a BROOKLYN CULTuART version in Paris or Cairo?

To visit for yourself, click for a map from Harajuku Station.

Tags: Art, Beams, Culture, design, Retail
Category: LIFESTYLE / FASHION
Other categories: MARKETING IDEAS, DIGITAL LIFE, PRODUCT INNOVATIONS

Select shop BEAMS, now for kids too

Written by: Rebecca Milner on July 17, 2008 at 11:57 pm | In LIFESTYLE / FASHION | No Comments

Select shop BEAMS has announced the September grand opening of its first BEAMS Kids. The store will be in Daikanyama, which is already home to several boutiques in the BEAMS empire (BEAMS T, Merrier BEAMS, Ray BEAMS, and BEAMS Boy) and a lot of fashionable mamas.

While children’s fashion has been a booming industry for a while in the West, until recently kids wear in Japan meant Hello Kitty and school uniforms. Last season’s International Fashion Fair, however, featured a selection of children’s apparel brands, mostly from Europe. Considering the market potential, with the children of the materialistic bubble years now becoming parents, BEAMS’ plan makes sense and it will be interesting to see if other fashionable domestic merchandisers follow suit.

Ahead of the opening, BEAMS has made their new original kids line Cottidie available on the popular online shopping site Zozo Town.

Tags: Beams, Children, Daikanyama, Fashion, IFF, Retail
Category: LIFESTYLE / FASHION
Other categories: MARKETING IDEAS, DIGITAL LIFE, PRODUCT INNOVATIONS

BEAMS shops now selling iPods next to rotating T-Shirts

Written by: Michael Keferl on May 2, 2008 at 11:35 pm | In DIGITAL LIFE, LIFESTYLE / FASHION | No Comments

Fashionable retailer BEAMS has now entered into an agreement with Apple which will make them the first non-electronics store sales point for iPods in Japan. While only available at a few BEAMS shops from the onset, this means that shoppers can now buy iPods alongside their favorite BEAMS clothes (both static and rotating), and even pick up some special BEAMS iPod accessories while they’re at it.

The new collaboration began on April 26th at select BEAMS stores and is planned to expand nationwide.

Tags: Apple, Beams, Fashion, iPod
Category: DIGITAL LIFE, LIFESTYLE / FASHION
Other categories: MARKETING IDEAS, PRODUCT INNOVATIONS

BeamStationary: BEAMS + 7-11 and some retro

Written by: Michael Keferl on April 18, 2008 at 4:46 pm | In LIFESTYLE / FASHION, MARKETING IDEAS | 3 Comments

Convenience store chain 7-11 is collaborating with fashion and lifestyle brand BEAMS to sell exclusive stationary from the BeamStationary line. Like many of 7-11’s recent campaigns, the line is overtly retro and features notebooks, pens, markers, folders, stick glue, and even label makers that are just like the same items that kids had in the 80’s, but branded for BEAMS.

From what we’ve seen in the stores, many of the items (such as the pencil case) sold out almost immediately, especially due to the prime display location in front of the register compounded by high traffic from the under-30 set eager for 70’s and 80’s nostalgia.

These pieces aren’t cheap either. With the “floating” pens going for about $6 apiece, they’re a far cry from the similar items I used to get out of vending machines for under a dollar back in the day.

Tags: 7-11, Beams, Convenience Stores, Retail, Retro, Stationary
Category: LIFESTYLE / FASHION, MARKETING IDEAS
Other categories: DIGITAL LIFE, PRODUCT INNOVATIONS