H.P.FRANCE's CONCENTO PARIS H.P.FRANCE GINZA, located on the third floor of Tokyu Plaza Ginza, has been performing well since its opening one month ago. Over 90% of the store's inventory is imported, featuring European designers such as J.W. Anderson, a leader in the "genderless" movement, MSGM, Walter, and SWASH, as well as Tokyo brands like Mikio Sakabe and Jenny Fax. While select shops are becoming increasingly homogenized due to normcore and athleisure trends, the store's edgy selection of high-fashion trends is unique in Japan. Its buying style, which doesn't rely on in-store original items, including accessories and fine jewelry, is reminiscent of a return to the original style of select shops. Located on the third floor, the entrance floor of Tokyu Plaza Ginza, the 150-square-meter store has expanded from its Omotesando location and relocated. On April 27th, the Herbis Plaza ENT Osaka store in Umeda, Osaka, underwent an expansion and renovation. We spoke with Yukiko Yuzawa, a Paris-based buyer and director in charge of buying for both Concent stores.

■ Achieving 30 Million Yen in Sales Within One Month of Opening

Q: It's been a month since the Tokyu Plaza Ginza store opened. What were your initial expectations and results?

Yuzawa: In terms of numbers, we've achieved approximately 30 million yen in sales within one month of opening, achieving our initial goal. It's often said in the industry that only conservative items are selling and that Western clothing isn't selling, but our impression is that there are actually many customers looking for fashionable items.

Just yesterday, a customer wearing a kimono came in and said, "There haven't been any interesting Western items lately, but I've finally found something interesting here," which was a truly welcome response for us.

When we previously held a pop-up at the Nihonbashi Mitsukoshi Main Store, we assumed that the long-established department store would attract many mature customers who preferred chic items. However, we found that many adult women were seeking slightly edgy pieces by young designers, and we often heard from them that they were looking for something different from what they could find in famous brand boutiques. I believe that our aggressive buying of fashionable items is paying off.

Q: What kind of customers do you have?

Yuzawa: This season in particular, genderless has become a big keyword, and we have seen many male customers, and we are sensing a new trend. Regarding inbound tourism, we have a wide range of customers, not only from Asia but also from Australia, the Middle East, and Europe, which really highlights the value of our Ginza location.

Speaking of the genderless trend, here is an example from our Osaka store. In January of this year, we received a J.W. Anderson product with the exact same design for both men and women. We stocked the men's items first. Despite the large size (48), due to the oversized trend, all of the items were purchased by women, and they quickly sold out. After that, women's items arrived and men started buying them. Q: I think Vetements' oversized collection was well-received because they were one of the first to capture the spirit of the times. Could you explain Concent's buying theme for this season? Yuzawa: The theme was "New Metamorphosis." It felt like a chrysalis metamorphosing into a butterfly. Genderless themes have become commonplace in fashion, so we wanted to go beyond that. Whether it was the theme at Maison & Objet (a Paris-based general exhibition of miscellaneous goods and interior design) or the Academy Award-winning film "The Revenant," I felt a strong overall trend of returning to nature and a longing for the wild. I think it's a fashion trend that's the polar opposite of normcore. In fact, the stuffed rabbits and animal and dinosaur figures we displayed at the opening sold out quickly.

The hand-knitted cardigans by Georgian (formerly Georgian) designer SOFIO GONGLI, which were displayed in the promotional space, almost sold out despite being thick wool. I fell in love with her products at first sight at an exhibition of Eastern European designers and decided to include them in the opening of our Ginza store. Her large cloisonné accessories, featuring animal motifs, were also well received.

We are also aggressively purchasing fashion brands for the next fall/winter season. We have ordered quite a bit of fur, etc. Our image is of a genderless woman who can easily wear men's clothes.

■The theme when starting a purchase is always blank slate

Q: The Ginza store has moved from the Omotesando store and has expanded in size, but has this led to a review of the store concept?

Yuzawa: No. Our concept of "a buyer's shop for mature women living robustly in the 21st century" has remained unchanged since we opened our first store in Osaka in 2001. Our target audience is women who can decide for themselves what is valuable, not what is price. These women enjoy a variety of styles, sometimes sporty, sometimes couture dresses, sometimes girly, sometimes rock-inspired. Q: How do you decide each season's buying theme? Yuzawa: Each season, I start buying from the London Collection, and at that stage, the theme is completely blank. Finally, when I've finished buying everything and am creating a map, the theme somehow becomes unified. I usually order colors and shapes that I don't like, and the image naturally becomes clear. Fashion reflects the mood of the times. My own buying image also solidifies as I speak with creators and others at exhibitions. When I finish buying for the season, I feel the need to clearly communicate to my staff why I purchased that item. This has not changed since I started working as a buyer. I must always be able to communicate to the staff why I purchased a particular item. Conversely, even when I feel I made a mistake by straying from the season's best-selling trends, I need to make sure the store staff understands my intentions.

I understand the difficulty of selling from my own experience working in a department store. I still stand in the store once every two months, serving customers, and get a sense of market needs from there.

■Who are you paying attention to after J.W. Anderson and MSGM?

Q: I heard you started your career at a department store.

Yuzawa: I joined a department store in the early 1980s, the height of fashion's popularity. As a shop master, I achieved sales, profit margins, and inventory budgets for 57 consecutive months, which earned me an award and led to a business trip to Paris, which was my first experience working at an overseas collection. He later became a women's fashion buyer, and in 1993, after 13 years at a department store, he left to study the language. He arrived on a student visa. He then gained experience in trade at a trading company. He joined H.P. France in 2000 and started Concent the following year. Q: Do you attend all the shows, both from the big fashion houses and from newcomers? Yuzawa: We don't buy from major fashion houses, so tickets to the big fashion houses' shows are hard to come by. We love the glamour of shows from big fashion houses like Dior and Chanel, but we spend the whole year visiting lesser-known exhibitions. Q: I thought it would be easy for a veteran buyer like you to get tickets. Yuzawa: It's always difficult to get tickets to Paris Fashion Week. I've been able to attend Courrèges shows because I've been buying COPERNI FEMME, the brand of Arnault and Sébastien, the designers currently working with them. Q: They won the First Collection Award at the ANDAM Fashion Awards in 2014 and were finalists for the LVMH Prize in 2015. Does that mean that networking with designers is important? Yuzawa: Yes, that's true. But once they become big-name designers, the situation changes again. Brands that you were previously able to buy from may suddenly become unavailable because they have to go through a trading company. That must have been frustrating on many occasions. Q: Can you tell me which designers you're currently paying attention to? Yuzawa: I've been ordering from J.W. Anderson since his debut. I'm attracted to his ability to propose new ideas and his ability to get others involved. I have high hopes for Giuseppe Di Morabito, a designer capable of creating a new world. I believe he can create a new kind of punk couture that can be worn loosely with slip-on sneakers. Milan has amazing factories and is capable of producing the best products, but it also has a difficult background for new designers to emerge. I have high hopes for him.

In Milan, I have been ordering Massimo Giorgiotti's MSGM collections since his first collection. At a time when other new designers were presenting products at unrealistic price points, he presented white shirts at a retail price of around 10,000 yen. I believe his understanding of the market is also the reason he has earned such high praise in the industry.

Q: Massimo has banned public photography at shows and has taken a unique approach to today's excessive social media marketing.

Yuzawa: Recently, I have been somewhat concerned about the current situation where press and bloggers appear at shows dressed entirely in the fashion house's clothes and are photographed by paparazzi, and images of the collection are posted on social media during and immediately after the show. When I see everyone taking photos with their smartphones, I wish they would concentrate a little more since they're there to watch the show.

Q: Some brands are announcing seasonal revisions so that products can be purchased immediately after the show.

Yuzawa: As someone who interacts with many customers who truly love the brand's clothes and have been waiting for them to arrive in stores for six months, we feel uncomfortable with this trend. In fact, some brands use different items for sale than for show pieces, which could lead to confusion for customers, wondering why one brand can do it but not this store.

Q: Are you okay with the impact of the terrorist attacks on your life in Paris?

Yuzawa: I feel that the French are strong, as they still choose to have tea on a cafe terrace, especially since the terrorist attacks. I think we all share the same feeling, especially in times like these.

(End)
Text: Noda Tatsuya