BELSTAFF OPENS FIRST STORE IN JAPAN FOLLOWED BY ISETAN POP-UP

This one is for you my followers in Japan as I have a huge following from my TV work in Asia .....

British luxury lifestyle brand Belstaff has opened for business in Japan. On the 2^nd March, a shop in the Matsuzakaya Nagoya store – the brand’s first point of sale in the market – began trading, followed swiftly by today’s ribbon cutting of a pop-up shop in Isetan Men's Building, Shinjuku, Tokyo, which will remain open until 29^th March.

Belstaff set up Belstaff Japan K.K. last July 2015, with plans to open four Japanese stores this year and wider future expansion plans including further pop-ups and additional units to follow.

The first Belstaff shop, located inside the Matsuzakaya department store in Nagoya, is situated on the second floor of the North Wing, and spans 409 square feet. The men’s pop-up shop at Isetan, Tokyo, covers a space of 635 square feet. Both points of sale stock the spring 2016 menswear range alongside Belstaff’s evergreen Legends collection. Belstaff will open a further store in Kobe in September, which will carry both men’s and womenswear.

Gavin Haig, Belstaff CEO said: “Having spent the greater part of my latter career in Asia, specifically in Japan, I am delighted to be bringing some of my experience and knowledge to opening our business in this part of the world. The Japanese have a great appetite for modern British heritage brands and Belstaff - having been the embodiment of British speed and style since 1924 - will no doubt not disappoint.”

Since September 2014 – the year in which Belstaff celebrated its 90th anniversary – and prior to these Japanese openings, three stores were opened in Seoul, while a shop in Macau opened last October. And from having one London store in 2013, there are now three, two having opened since last July: firstly Old Spitalfields Market, followed by Westfield in November 2016.

This January, Belstaff named Mike Woodcock as Chief Financial Officer, and moved its financial base and trademark back to the U.K. from Switzerland. The company has been previously based in the U.K., Italy and New York. 

Revenue for year to 31^st January is on track to be 20% higher than the previous year and CEO Gavin Haig forecasts similar growth for the upcoming financial year.

Expansion this year will be aided by acceleration of the women’s business with new collections and Liv Tyler as the face of the brand; returning to print advertising in the second half; new shoe and accessories collections (currently these count for 10% of sales; Haig predicts they could be a third within three years).

Belstaff continues at speed through 2016: the men’s AW16 collection and new campaign ‘Worship the Ground’ featuring Sir Ranulph Fiennes and shot by Rankin launched inJanuary, followed by the release of brand film ‘Falling Up’ starring and executively produced by Liv Tyler, Belstaff Brand Ambassador and Creative Contributor. 

Having premiered the film during New York Fashion Week in February, Belstaff and Tyler presented their first capsule collection (designed alongside Belstaff women’s designer Delphine Ninous) during London Fashion Week and alongside the presentation of the women’s Main AW16 collection.

To follow are a capsule collection designed with the sons of James Hunt in celebration of the 40^th anniversary of their father’s F1 championship win at Fuji in ’76, and an attempt to break the land-speed record on two wheels.