The Business of Fashion
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Beginning June 1, Japanese department stores will be able to reopen on weekdays. But vague government guidelines concerning an exception to store closures has caused confusion, The Mainichi writes.
Japan’s national state of emergency, which was last week extended to June 20, has dealt a harsh blow to the country’s already-struggling department stores, which closed in late April, save for storefronts selling “daily necessities.” But businesses like Takashimaya have slowly widened their interpretation of that term; The Mainichi reports that the retailer reopened sections dedicated to items like handbags and shoes on May 6, and womenswear and menswear on May 12, paving the way for other chains to do the same.
On May 12, Tokyo authorities penned a letter to the Japan Department Stores Association, of which Takashimaya president Yoshio Murata is chairman, stating that “so-called extravagant goods, such as luxury clothing, do not fall under the category of daily necessities, and this has been clearly indicated by the national government.” Four days later, the metropolitan government defined “extravagant goods” as including items such as “foreign luxury brand goods.”
While some department stores have ceased sales of luxury items, Takashimaya is staying the course. “Our customers decide what is an extravagant item,” a spokesperson told The Mainichi.
Local streetwear brands, festivals and stores selling major global labels remain relatively small but the country’s community of hypebeasts and sneakerheads is growing fast.
This week’s round-up of global markets fashion business news also features Senegalese investors, an Indian menswear giant and workers’ rights in Myanmar.
Though e-commerce reshaped retailing in the US and Europe even before the pandemic, a confluence of economic, financial and logistical circumstances kept the South American nation insulated from the trend until later.
This week’s round-up of global markets fashion business news also features Korean shopping app Ably, Kenya’s second-hand clothing trade and the EU’s bid to curb forced labour in Chinese cotton.