While a lot of people (including me) were out of town at this time last month, Levis Japan threw open the doors of a new high-end boutique in the posh Aoyama district of Tokyo.
Showcasing premium Levi's products sourced from their operations worldwide, Cinch offers three collections in the 150 M2 store.
The first line is Levi's Vintage Clothing, which, leveraging Japanese interest in rare and vintage products, gives cash-rich shoppers the chance to buy—amongst other things—$1,500 revival versions of historic jeans models, including a design first sold in 1917 (a Nikkei article says that most items in the Vintage line retail in the $300-400 range).
The second collection is Levi's Blue, an street line originating in Europe. Averaging a little over 20,000 yen per item, Blue is being made available in Japan for the first time.
Finally there's Fenom, a collection that fuses vintage and innovation elements and was developed here in Japan (average unit price around $250).
Together Cinch's lines cover men's, women's and accessories products, an approach Levis apparently hopes can satisfy a full spectrum of shopper needs.
Nikkei says the average retail cost per SKU at the store is 25,000 yen, which is over twice that of products at other Levis stores in Japan, and that Cinch hopes to attract 10,000 customers monthly. First year revenues are expected to exceed $3 million.
According to Levi's Japan press release, Cinch will also offer limited-edition items that can be purchased only at the boutique, including styles designed in collaboration with influential artists and musicians (such as Fenom). Levis will hold promotional music and art events at the shop too.
Given the recent sharp downturn in Japanese luxury consumption, the Cinch opening isn't exactly optimally timed. Japan has a good many jeans otaku who will snatch up anything with an aroma of rarity about it, but the real secret to success (especially nowadays) is making sure you have compelling product on a consistent basis.
I visited the shop last week, and came away a little underwhelmed. Since it was a weekday evening, I didn't expect to see crowds of shoppers--but I didn't expect to be the only person in there either (I was). Perhaps my timing was bad, but I'll bet plenty could be done to draw more people to the store, not the least of which is putting more effort into design. To my eyes, only the Fenom line felt fresh, and the shop itself was pretty uninspired, as well.
Is Cinch a cinch to be Japan's next big hit? For the time being, it seems doubtful.
