Isetan Mitsukoshi will begin full-scale sales of its new randoseru line on June 15th. We spoke with a buyer at Isetan Mitsukoshi about randoseru sales trends and this year's hottest randoseru. According to the buyer, "In recent years, Isetan Mitsukoshi's randoseru sales have been trending at about 110% growth. We aim to surpass last year's sales this year as well." Regarding peak sales, he said, "Until last year, we anticipated peak sales around the Obon season, when three generations of families could shop together, and sales were within our expectations. Furthermore, according to our sales stylists, many customers shop with their children during the summer vacation season before making a purchase. Therefore, this year, we will begin distributing randoseru catalogs in mid-May, about a month and a half earlier than usual, and will have the full lineup available from July 6th, about three weeks earlier than last year." According to the buyer, this year's hottest item is "artistic randoseru." "The school bags look the same, but when you open the cover, it's like a space of art unfolds before you. Because they're used every day, we want to stimulate children's creative sensibilities. That's why we want to give school bags an artistic quality that appeals to all five senses," says the owner. Mitsukoshi Isetan's original "Andy Warhol School Bag" (73,000-83,000 yen) features a stylish design featuring a work by Andy Warhol, a leading 20th-century artist, boldly placed on the inside of the bag's cover. The "Orobianco x Rimpa School Bag" (83,000 yen), created by Orobianco founder Giacomo Valentini and inspired by the Rinpa school of art, known for its "Wind Gods and Thunder Gods Screen," is said to embody the desire to "convey a powerful message that sublimates traditional schooling into a modern style." Furthermore, this school bag features a graphical design of the character "gaku" (study) and a crescent moon, and was created with the idea that the crescent moon, which represents the beginning of the lunar cycle, represents possibilities for the future.
Another school bag that has been consistently popular in recent years is the "PATTERN MADE RANDOSERU" (59,000 to 73,000 yen), which allows you to freely customize the materials, interior design, buttons, etc. There are now eight zipper pull designs and nine button designs to choose from. There is also now an option (for a fee) to engrave the child's name on the nameplate, and the school bag has evolved into one that can be used and loved with an even wider variety of combinations.
