Levi’s Re-Opens Kyoto Store As CEO Looks to Increase Asian Market Share

Meghan Hall
·3 min read

At Levi’s newly reopened store in Kyoto, Japan, denim comes with a side of local culture and history.

The denim giant said the store, officially reopened on Sunday, underwent a refresh and will be part of its series of NextGen stores.

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The company piloted its NextGen stores—which focus on immersive customer experiences, rather than solely transactions—in Asia and Europe, eventually bringing them to the United States.

In January at the National Retail Federation conference, Michelle Gass, Levi Strauss & Co. (LS&Co.) CEO, said the company has a particular appetite for expansion in Asia. The re-opening in Kyoto could be a play at grabbing stronger market share there—as could the brand’s launch of its Made in Japan collection earlier this year.

David Hamaty, LS&Co.’s general manager for North Asia, said the red-tab purveyor wants to draw in an international fanbase.

“As we strive to cultivate lifelong denim fans around the world, we remain committed to bringing the best and fullest expression of the Levi’s brand to their doorstep, while delivering impactful and elevated shopping experiences that resonate with them,” Hamaty said in a statement.

The store, which sits in the Teramachi Kyogoku shopping district, is more than double the size of the previous Kyoto location. It has four levels and boasts 6,100 square feet for shoppers to roam.

Typical of the NextGen stores, the newly reupped Kyoto store has a Levi’s Tailor Shop at the center of the ground floor, where consumers can customize their Levi’s products alongside tailoring professionals. The store offers embroidery, patches, pins and fabric paneling, among other options.

According to the company, the Kyoto store will have exclusive materials available for customization that celebrate the culture of the area. Those options include rare fabric from Chingireya antique text store, as well as patches designed by Hideto Honda, an illustrator local to Kyoto.

Honda shared some of the designs in a video on his Instagram last week.

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A post shared by Hideto Honda (@hideto_goodvibes)

Levi’s also engaged other artists for the store’s launch announcement and for its long-term decor.

According to the company, the store’s motif and feel “draw inspiration from Kyoto’s unique history and culture.”

The store’s design features karakami paper, decorative paper painted with traditional patterns, made by local brand Karacho, which has been operating since 1624. The store also has lanterns made by Kojima Shoten, a Kyoto-based lanterns designer who has in the past collaborated with Supreme.

On the day of the store’s launch, the brand released exclusive versions of select items, like its signature 501 jeans customized by Akio Hasegawa, a stylist who previously served as the creative director of Nautica Japan, and a T-shirt with a silk-screened 501 calligraphy print by Ryusuke Arise, a Kyoto-based artist.

Hamaty said the various expressions of culture peppered throughout the store bring tradition to the forefront of the in-store experience.

“With the Kyoto store, we’ve built a unique experience representative of the culture and history of the city,” Hamaty said. “We’re also bringing to life exclusive, hyper-local customization options that will allow shoppers to tailor their Levi’s apparel to their specific taste and expression.”