The "Business Clothing" section on the 5th floor of the Isetan Shinjuku Men's Building, which reopened after a remodel on March 12th, has strengthened its offering of made-to-order suits. By overhauling the "Made to Measure" (previously called "Measure Made") zone, the store has launched "the world's No. 1 floor for tailor-made clothing, aiming to become a mecca for business wear." To cater to customers with a high level of fashion knowledge, a new space called "House of Tailor" has been created, staffed by eight Japanese tailors. In addition to the existing talents of Yuhei Yamamoto of Tailorcade, Kazunari Arita of Tailor & Cutter, Yoshio Okamoto of Migliore, Yukihiko Funabashi of Sartoria Epsilon, Hideaki Sato of Pecora Ginza, Shigeaki Naoi of Shigeaki Naoi, and Ichiro Suzuki of Ichiro Suzuki, the store now also welcomes Osamu Nemoto of Lid Tailor, who has an atelier in Nishi-Ogikubo, Tokyo.
The sales floor features a cinema and library, stocking classic films from the 1960s and 1970s and used Western books, and a counter for monitoring detailed tastes. Each of the two tailors presented a VMD on a "stage" that fully expressed the worldview of each tailor/modeler through items. "Suits, once worn as a uniform, are now being carefully selected as a costume that expresses one's individuality. While suits themselves are on the decline, the market for custom-made suits is expanding. Customers seeking this zone, in particular, are not looking to shop around for styles categorized by country or style, such as Italian Classico or British Trad, as we have traditionally done, but rather are looking for a fundamental response to their desire for the kind of man they want to be. That's why we recently added Mr. Nemoto from Lid Taylor to our team, allowing us to cater to a wider range of customer preferences," explains Yosuke Kagami, buyer for the Men's Sportswear Division at Isetan Mitsukoshi. The number of custom-made details being added has also increased year by year, highlighting customers' attention to detail. As a result, we've significantly increased our inventory of accessories like buttons and bunch books (fabric swatch books). We've also increased the variety of fabrics we offer, broadening our offerings to meet the needs of our high-quality customers in various ways.
Furthermore, this remodeling of the floor has led to a review of the production system for the private brand "Isetan Men's," with a review of the ordering system at each stage and a shift to apparel-oriented manufacturing. The new business style, typified by Cool Biz, has also been reworked. Furthermore, "Sarto," a renowned alteration and repair shop, has opened on the 5th floor, the first time in a department store, following Ginza, Harajuku, and Futakotamagawa, offering custom-made pattern orders and remodeling services.
