L'ECHOPPE, a men's select shop operated by Baycrew's, opened on April 25th. The address is 5-5-4 Minami-Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo.
Shiseido's men's skincare brand, SHISEIDO MEN, is opening its first shop-in-shop in a select shop. (L'ECHOPPE, B1F, Baycrew's) A media conference was held the day before the opening, where a Shiseido brand representative spoke about the background, aims, and future prospects of the store.
This was a first for Shiseido, not just for SHISEIDO MEN, to open a shop-in-shop within a select shop without its own sales staff, and it was a challenging endeavor. "The L'ECHOPPE staff visited Shiseido multiple times to gain a thorough understanding of the company and the brand, and received in-depth lectures on the products," said Aya Tsuchiya, who is in charge of PR for L'ECHOPPE at Baycrew's.
The concept of L'ECHOPPE is "a fashion gourmand store where you can enjoy a playful and casual style." Like the Parisian delicatessens frequented by gourmets, the store offers a wardrobe of "delicious side dishes that are ripe for the moment," featuring seasonal fashion items cooked with creative recipes and trendy spices. "SHISEIDO MEN" will be located in this conceptual space on the first basement floor of the store. Shiseido's Naoshi Kuramoto explains that the store's opening is part of a new initiative, saying, "Since last year, we've wanted to go beyond the boundaries of cosmetics and propose lifestyle products." He also explains that the opening of the store was prompted by the company's sponsorship of "VERSUS TOKYO," held during Tokyo Fashion Week last year. Baycrews representatives visited the SHISEIDO MEN sponsored booth, which led to the decision to open the store. "The store (the entire Les Shop) was created under the concept of offering items that complement the clothes chosen by people who have experienced a variety of fashion styles, from vintage to modern, as real pieces they can wear today. With that in mind, we hope you'll add SHISEIDO MEN to your daily routine as a special touch," he continued. The interior design of the three-floor Les Shop was handled by the French architectural design team CUT Architectures. SHISEIDO MEN, which will open as a shop-in-shop, will take up approximately 80% of the sales floor on the first basement floor, covering an area of 33 square meters. The SHISEIDO MEN sales floor, also handled by CUT Architectures, uses the same motif as the rest of the store, creating a seamless spatial presentation that firmly reflects the SHISEIDO MEN concept. "For 'SHISEIDO MEN,' we used an actual ice cave, filmed inside a crevasse, as our advertising visual, based on the image of 'challenging men.' We also used a blue floor inspired by the ice cave, and an ice hexagon motif, creating a very conceptual store design," he said with a satisfied look on his face.

While the men's cosmetics market is "pretty much flat," he also noted that it is showing signs of expansion, saying, "Looking at just the men's skincare market, it has roughly doubled since the 2000s. Data shows that roughly 30% of men use lotions."