Transcript Issue 1.4 – Japanese Select Shops

Transcript would not want to speculate how the sheer number of retail stores in Japan survive financially – however having a critical mass of consumers and an ingrained shopping culture presumably plays a significant part.

Riding a single speed city bike from the quiet back streets near Kyoto Station to the Kawaramachi district near the commercial centre – whilst dodging old grandmothers and tin sized delivery trucks – I stumbled upon a store that quite possibly could be described as Transcript’s favourite retail store in Japan. Angers is a select shop with a beautiful art deco façade that has an amazing selection of stationary, books, clothing & home wares. At Anger’s you can purchase a Wegner plank armchair while perusing a book on Kyoto’s best bike rides. The Japanese have honed this strategy of product curation, purchasing products that sit amazing well together on the shelf, whilst also forming part of a cohesive and thoroughly stylish lifestyle.

Not only did the service exhibit restraint, infinite product knowledge and attention to detail, but the staff also exemplified the sophisticated people of this most cultured city.

Here are Transcript’s favourite select shops:

www.angers.jp

www.spiral.co.jp

www.arts-science.com

This is the final issue from Transcript’s short series on Japan. Please join us again in a fortnight for a new series that explores the design & commercial companies that inspire us.

BYO in style.

(oooms)

Transcript Issue 1.3 – Japanese Menswear

It’s hard not to be enveloped by Tokyo’s inherent stylishness when you wander around the city’s concrete paved streets. Here young salary men in Tokyo’s Marunouchi district have made an art of wearing perfectly cut 2 button grey suits with an attention to detail that makes an aerospace engineer’s thesis into new carbon fibre materials look decidedly pedestrian.

We’ve all heard of labels such as United Arrows, Beams, Ships & Tomorrowland – very much the establishment of Japanese menswear and greats such as Comme des Garcons and Yohji Yamamoto. However Transcript also commends labels such as Visvim, Soph, Hare and Lad Musician for producing garments that not only are embedded with a uniquely Japanese aesthetic, but also are inherently creative in how they treat fabric, silhouette and detailing.

As I left hotel Claska, on my way to Shibuya before taking a local train to Daikanyama, I suddenly became attuned to how Japanese men view fashion – clothing is not something that you wear just on a daily basis, but rather it is an integral part of life. Transcript argues that young men across the west could learn a lot from how Japanese men pair colour with texture, pattern with cut creating a thoroughly curated form of personal expression. If you have seen the staff and customers at A.P.C’s flagship homme store in Daikanyama you’ll know exactly what I mean.

LEARN YOUR LACES

It sounds easy enough, but there are countless ways of lacing your shoes, some better than others. We're here to show the only two you really need to know. Which one you choose is a matter of personal taste. Read More (Valet.)

Transcript Issue 1.2 - Vending Machines

It’s the New Year and in issue 1.2 Transcript continues its series on Japan.

We’ve all heard about the vending machine culture in the Japan and stories about how you are able to get worn girls underwear from a vending machine on the back streets of Ikebukuro. Porn and underwear notwithstanding, vending machines are an integral part of life in Japan and form not only a valuable but accessible source of food and beverage.

Standing on a street corner in Shinjuku on a Friday night as I waited for a taxi to hotel Claska, a row of 5 vending machines that flanked the wall – with their bright lights & j-pop anthems playing – caught my undivided attention. I was amazed at the sheer choice of drinks, cigarettes and food that was available. This is the concept of consumer choice taken right to its limits, where a machine would contain twenty different choices of canned coffee; where large cans of beer share the same machine as your favourite pack of Marlboros. No wonder Tokyo salary men congregate around these machines at the entrances of Shinjuku station, gulping down huge daijoki sized cans of Kirin before taking the express train to Yokohama.

Uniqlo, the world leader is fast, affordable & basic fashion has taken this concept to the next level with its UT store in Harajuku Tokyo. Designed by Kashiwa Sato of Samurai Design, this concept store has developed an innovative way of doing retail. Machines that dispense your cotton basics organised by cut, size and pantone colour line the walls on all four levels of the store. It’s basically a fully integrated shopping experience that eases the consumer’s decision making process, freeing up something that we all would like more of: time.

Wishing you a happy new year.

Read more from Transcript’s editor here

THE UNTITLED SHOP IN BROADSHEET

This is a very simple, very understated menswear store on Brunswick Street, Fitzroy, with a name of equal understatement.

The cool thing here is that it’s actually a store split between two local labels, Who Am Eye and Malmo. The former are responsible for a Melbourne take on Euro underground style with darkly draped, loose-cut silhouettes; think long t-shirts and skinny as they come jeans. Great if you can pull it off. The latter – named in honour of designer Fredrik Jonsson’s (ex Hem and Haw) Swedish hometown of Malmo – predominantly works in a monochromatic palette and gives us well-priced suits, shirts and denim fit for any wardrobe.

There are bigger plans for the premises in the future but even now Jonsson’ Swedish aesthetic shines through in touches like polished concrete floors, white walls and carefully selected vintage furniture. It suits both labels and makes for an easy and very pleasant shopping experience. (Broadsheet)

www.broadsheet.com.au

BEST COFFEE IN FITZROY - MIN LOKAL

The aptly named Min Lokal (Swedish for My Local) is one of a growing number of cafés cropping up off Melbourne's main drags. Min Lokal is housed in the former Wild Flour bakery on George Street, in the heart of Fitzroy's residential area.

Min Lokal is the café version of your local corner pub, with its large communal tables, laidback service and ever-growing host of regulars. The bulk of its customers come from the surrounding apartment blocks, terrace houses and warehouse conversions, as well as nearby businesses. (Breakfast Out)

MALMö ONLINE SALE - UP TO 50% OFF!

Soapstone Whiskey Stones

A watered down whiskey may be a preference to some, but to others it wounds the drink in a snuffer. How about we avoid the ice issue altogether? These little ice-imitators from Soapstone are specially designed to put a slight chill in your Whiskey. All you do is put them in the freezer for a few hours and then pop a couple into a glass of single malt.