New York-based select shop Opening Ceremony has relocated its flagship store to Harajuku's Cat Street, holding its grand opening on April 20th. The brand first arrived in Tokyo in 2009, opening its first store in Japan at Shibuya Seibu Movita and its second store at Lumine Shinjuku in 2012. Starting with the Fall/Winter 2012 season, the brand expanded the variety of brands it carried and, thanks to successful strategies such as organizing events, saw strong sales. The brand decided to open its first street-level store at this time, as it found a suitable property. The Omotesando store has four floors. The first floor is dedicated to women's wear and its original line; the second floor is for accessories such as bags and shoes; the third floor is for women's wear; and the basement floor is dedicated to men's wear and culture. Each floor features different materials and themes, creating a unique space with intricate displays, including a floor-to-ceiling staircase, large wave-shaped racks, and original animal and doll-shaped fixtures that adorned the Movida store. Furthermore, the store also incorporates creative ideas to guide customers to other floors, such as placing a small selection of men's items near the stairs on the women's floor. Kobayashi, general manager of the Opening Ceremony Business Division at Onward Kashiyama Co., Ltd., said, "There are clearly more fashion lovers in this new location than before, and we expect to see an increase in casual customers. While the store floor space is smaller, it's still large for a select shop at approximately 1,200 square meters. We're able to fit the same amount of merchandise as in our previous store. Being a street-level store (compared to our previous store inside a department store) gives us greater freedom, allowing us to further refine our image and presentation, evolving our unique worldview. While keeping sales in mind, we're committed to selecting items from a unique perspective of 'interesting,' and we hope to promote Japan-exclusive brands and culture from here." As the name suggests, the store carries a wide range of products in addition to apparel, including popular brands such as TENGA and iroha among New York fashionistas, and limited edition items from Le Labo, a luxury fragrance brand created by a world-class perfumer.The prices range from miscellaneous goods costing a few hundred yen to clothing costing 400,000 yen.The store carries a lineup of over 140 brands, ranging from international brands such as ACNE, ALEXANDER WANG, BAND OF OUTSIDERS, CARVEN, and RODARTE, to popular Japanese brands such as TOGA and G.V.G.V. To celebrate the opening, Opening Ceremony Japan has launched a new line, "Kiko Mizuhara for OPENING CEREMONY," a collaboration between the iconic Japanese fashion model and actress Kiko Mizuhara. The store will also carry special items from Kenzo, whose creative directors are Opening Ceremony founders Humberto Leon and Carol Lim. "Many of our regular customers are celebrities and people in the entertainment industry, and they excel at combining fast and high-end fashion. For this reason, we don't limit ourselves to a specific price range, but offer a wide selection of items that fit the Opening Ceremony aesthetic. This allows customers to broaden their coordination options and enjoy fashion even more," said Director Kobayashi. Looking ahead, we hope to use the Omotesando store as a base to promote various fashion culture events and invigorate the fashion culture of Tokyo and Japan," said Director Kobayashi. At the opening, "OC Boys & Girls" appeared in the neighborhood, a New York street bus was operated, and game events were also held.

In addition, Carol Lim, CEO of the US company Opening Ceremony, who visited Japan to celebrate the opening, said, "Our location, close to Shibuya, Harajuku, and Aoyama, is very advantageous for business. Currently, Opening Ceremony has seven stores worldwide, two of which are in Japan, and we are the only Asian market. Therefore, this flagship store in Omotesando plays an important role in targeting the Asian market." He also mentioned that the key to the store's success is "creating a store that exudes the Opening Ceremony spirit while selecting products unique to the area, such as collaborations with popular model Kiko and popular brand G.V.G.V. in Japan." Carol herself also shops locally to find new brands.

She is also currently focusing on emerging Belgian designers, and is planning a new project for September.