Influx

Want to see the architects and architecture of the future? Take a trip to the stylish Omotesando district in Tokyo. It’s here where you will find a unique collaborative branding effort taking place between Western fashion brands and their newfound brand communicators, architects.

Ever since Prada knocked on the doors of OMA, Rem Koolhaas’s architecture firm, other companies having been lining up to work with architects to create “monuments” to their brands, most of the more interesting experiments have been happening in Omotesando,Tokyo.

Prada started the trend here by working with the Swiss team, Herzog and de Meuron, the others that followed have worked only with Japanese architects. There’s so much work here its become a showcase for some the best talent, not only in Japan, but globally.

Other architectural monuments to brand include; Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa’s Dior building,Jun Aoki for Louis Vuitton,Kengo Kuma for LVMH’s Japanese HQ and the soon to be completed Tod’s store by Toyo Ito

Beyond the functional, these stores work on a pure branding level. They provide unique experiences for the luxury shoppers, they often reflect or refer to certain elements of the brand in their design and are created to be written about and admired.

The buildings themselves have become objects of status for the fashion house. Tod’s new building is as much a statement of its arrival as a mega brand on the global luxury stage, as anything else. The buildings become stars and are featured and discussed like celebrities by the global creative elite, a critical audience for luxury brands.