Given its fittingly idyllic canal-side setting and laid-back vibe, we’ve always wondered why Visvim never settled in Naka Meguro. Well, now it has. The eclectic-style cult brand has actually opened smack on the tree-lined waterway where it occupies two-storey wooden structure. Built as a private home in the late 1970s, the premises have been entirely revamped to suit the aesthetic of Visvim and its women’s line WMV. In fact, this is the first store where both lines are presented, but with an emphasis on the latter. The brand’s creative director Hiroki Nakamura, known for his specific sense of style and keen eye for detail, has transformed the building into a three-dimensional extension of Visvim‘s brand values and traditional Japanese culture.
The front half of the second floor has been removed while the façade has been restructured and given more windows, resulting in a voluminous and light-filled ground floor with exposed wooden beams and latticework and stuccoed walls. Traditional and meticulous techniques have been applied to heighten the sense of authenticity, such as flooring created by mixing gravel and soil, and then rinsing it with water to lift the stones to the surface and form unique patterns. Furnishings and fixtures are hand-picked and comprise of 1950s-inspired pieces and simple wooden clothing racks and display tables. Obviously, right outside a traditional Japanese garden can be found. Mind you, the WMV Visvim Tokyo store also boasts a small café called Little Cloud Coffee which serves espresso and latte concoctions.
WMV Visvim Tokyo
1-22-1 Aobadai (Naka Meguro)
Tokyo 153-0043
Telephone: +81 3 63033717
Daily 11-8
Publishers Note
Just to be clear – superfuture® is a design blog and not a political commentator. No surprise there. The scope of our content has always been global and borderless, however that can often mean covering projects in countries where we will not agree with the politics or actions of those countries. In a world that’s as screwed up as ever right now, the focus of our support is to those designers, architects and other creatives who aim to make the world a more liveable one – as opposed to people that try their hardest to destroy it. So if a project hits our desk and we like it based on its design credentials, we may choose to publish regardless of its location or creators nationality. superfuture® has always been inclusive and hopes for all current wars, aggression, violence, hate and extremism to end.
