Shinsegae brings K-fashion to Tokyo’s trendy hub

Visitors check out Shinsegae's Hyper Ground pop-up at Isetan Department Store in Tokyo's Shinjuku ward in this May photo. Courtesy of Shinsegae

Shinsegae Department Store will decorate the heart of Tokyo with Korean fashion brands this week, showcasing K-fashion to local consumers and global tourists in the Japanese capital.

Shinsegae Group’s fashion platform Hyper Ground will open pop-up stores in Shibuya ward for the brands it distributes and showcase them during Shibuya Fashion Week. The events, running in the heart of the trendy district through next month, are expected to further boost the growing global popularity of Korean fashion.

Hyper Ground, dedicated to fledgling brands targeting millennials and Gen Z, will launch its pop-up stores on multiple floors of Shibuya 109, a landmark shopping mall in the area. Starting Friday, the stores will showcase collections for seven of Korea’s “rising star” brands, according to the company — Holy in Code, Epingler, Letter from Moon, Mucent, Montsenu, Three to Eighty and ffroi. The stores run until Nov. 10.

Promotional image of Shinsegae Hyper Ground’s pop-up store at Shibuya 109 / Courtesy of Shinsegae

The pop-ups mark a debut in the Japanese market for all the brands except Mucent. Shinsegae said it “studied unique fashion styles visible throughout Shibuya and carefully selected brands with market competitiveness to compete with local labels.”

The Korean brands will take center stage on Sunday, launching during Shibuya Fashion Week near Shibuya 109. Held every spring and fall, the event’s upcoming installment will feature a runway at the heart of Shibuya, on streets adjacent to the mall.

This fall’s show, under the banner “Shibuya Runway Seoul Mix,” will bring together young and emerging designers from both Korea and Japan. The experimental showcase continues the fashion week’s tradition, which began in 2014.

“An average of over 3 million people flock to Shibuya every day. The runway will be staged right next to the famous Shibuya Scramble Square, known as ‘the gateway to Tokyo.’ This is also the first time the fashion week is dedicating time and space to Seoul Look,” said Park Sang-eon, chief of Shinsegae’s new retail division.

The collaboration was made possible through a memorandum of understanding signed last month between Shinsegae and Tokyu Retail Management. The companies agreed to further strengthen content exchange and collaborative business models, according to Park.