When I first encountered Japanese brand retaW, they were a fledgling brand, with 6 products – all shower gels – but the unique quality of these six products alone were enough to make inroads in an already saturated marketplace. Their select distribution strategy saw them introduced to the world via niche retailers such as Dover Street Market and Colette, before we had the coup of stocking them at my former business interest Niven & Joshua, where it resides to this day.
While their growth was covert, if you could call it that, their intelligent use of fragrance saw rise to a whole host of new category products, from retaW Fragrance Room tags, and retaW Fragrance Tablets, to retaW Dog Shampoo.
It was then that the true undertones of the brand came to the fore, with the “Godfather of Harajuku” Hiroshi Fujiwara revealing his true role behind the brand and further pushing the range to the hearts of the subculture of street fashion and beyond.
Pairing retaW in various guises with his brands Head Porter and collaborative label Fragment Design gave resonance, beyond the fragrance & lifestyle category.
retaW Store Harajuku
4-26-22 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Japan
Open Date : 2016.9.10（Sat.）
Opening Hours : 12:00~19:00 （Closed on Wednesdays)
Today the brand’s progress has led to the opening of a retaW Flagship store, in Harajuku. Officially opened last week (10th September 2016) the store is reflective of the brand aesthetic ethos and Japanese design in a medically clean and minimal space with the expansive retaW product range punctuating the visual silence.
The retaW Harajuku Store is an expectedly clinical space to launch the retaW retail experience and judging by the brand’s history of growth, this certainly won’t be the last.
retaW-TOKYO.com
(SOURCE & IMAGERY: HYPEBEAST)
