On July 3, Cross Company held a launch event for its new global strategic brand, "KOE," at Roppongi Hills. The event kicked off with a reading of the poem "Listen to My Voice" by singer Chara, the brand's ambassador. The fashion show showcased 20 looks across women's, men's, children's, juniors, and maternity wear. The collection featured real clothing such as duffle coats, jacquard knitwear, fur jackets, and cigarette pants. Based on the theme of "affordable and easy-to-coordinate fashion," the collection is produced based on the "fair supply chain" concept, which aims to minimize the environmental impact of the production process and create high-quality products while respecting human rights and working conditions in the production environment. Instead of using leather or fur, the brand uses proprietary eco-leather and eco-fur. This reflects the vision of Yasuharu Ishikawa, the company's president and CEO, to create a brand that "creates happiness for the makers, sellers, and wearers." The brand's ambassadors are Chara, a big fan of President Ishikawa, and her daughter, model Sumire. This marks the first time the two have appeared in the media as mother-daughter image characters. During a talk show after the show, Chara commented, "The concept of a fair supply chain is true love," and announced that two songs had been written for the brand's television commercials, which will begin airing in September. The songs were written in sympathy with President Ishikawa's dream. According to President Ishikawa, the KOE project began in February of last year. The brand was founded after learning about child abuse and discrimination against women occurring in apparel manufacturing sites in poor countries, and after the fast fashion factory accident in Bangladesh last year, which inspired him to "want to change society" surrounding the apparel industry. The first directly operated store is scheduled to open in September in Okayama, President Ishikawa's hometown and the company's birthplace. Stores in Takamatsu and Niigata will follow in October. Trees will be planted within the store to symbolize the brand's identity. The goal is to open a domestic flagship store in Ginza, Shinjuku, or Shibuya within three years, and flagship stores in the United States, Europe, and China within five years. "When we become number one in the world, I want to say that our first store was in Okayama," said President Ishikawa.
"Japan has the highest awareness of real fashion in the world. It's only natural that a global brand would emerge from Japan," he said. When asked about his future goals, he replied, "We aim to expand to 30 stores and 10 billion yen in sales within three years, and to 100 billion yen by 2020. In the future, I want this brand alone to exceed 1 trillion yen and become a brand known worldwide."
KOE's expected average customer spend is 8,000 yen. The main price ranges are 16,900 yen for women's outerwear and 4,900 yen for shirts, 17,900 yen for men's outerwear and 5,900 yen for shirts, and 7,900 yen for children's outerwear and 3,900 yen for shirts.
