Although he’s based in London, one of the planet’s leading shopping destinations, Kiko Kostadinov picked Tokyo as the location for his very first store. And that’s for a reason. The Bulgarian-born menswear designer graduated from the renowned Central Saint Martins fashion school in 2016, and ever since, his star has been steadily rising, especially in the Land of the Rising Sun where his forward fashion sense arguably is most appreciated. Well, the affection is mutual as the designer himself found continuous inspiration in Japan, resulting in the obvious decision to set up shop here. The Kiko Kostadinov store occupies a unit on the ground floor of a seven-storey, early 199os office building in the popular Harajuku shopping district, and features an interior design by acclaimed Japanese architect Yusuke Seki and his team.
Unsurprisingly, given the fact that Kostadinov has also evolved as an artist in recent years, the retail space boasts two sections—a salon and an installation space. The aforementioned architect has designed the salon which is inspired by the vibrant Japanese capital city, and combining a minimal aesthetic with the influence of the visual arts. The design codes embody the research-based approach to world-building that has defined the Kiko Kostadinov brand since its inception. The installation space takes the form of an ever-evolving initiative where artists are invited to create immersive installations that will challenge shoppers, as well as the brand, to develop new ways to engage with the retail experience. The inaugural show is by multi-hyphenate Ryan Trecartin.
Trecartin whose practice straddles the fields of video, installation, sculpture, sound design, and photo-based work that focuses on the fluid nature of identity, the unfolding definitions of community, and the complexities of subject formation. Trecartin presents a visual narrative unveiled in two parts. The first iteration presents material explorations and spatial studies that echo the ‘in production’ phase of set building. Photorealistic rendering plans, created with long-time collaborator Rhett LaRue, material placeholders, ‘used’ scaffolding, and other construction gestures combine to create a ‘draft setting’. The new Kiko Kostadinov store carries apparel, handbags, accessories, footwear collections, and special project items. © superfuture.com
Kiko Kostadinov
2-32-3 Jingumae (Harajuku)
Tokyo 150-0001
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.
