Having been a leading luxury market for many decades, it isn’t hard to image that the Land of the Rising Sun is a veritable treasure trove for trophy vintage items. In Tokyo, circular design company Valuence has a portfolio of different businesses, and luxury vintage retailer ALLU is one of them. Managing no less than six stores in three of the city’s leading shopping districts, and also in downtown Osaka, it’s the go-to address for many a discerning shopper. As of late, an additional retail space, aptly named ALLU SHINJUKU, has opened its doors in the city’s bustling Shinjuku district. The store occupies no less than 780 sqm. (8,396 sq.ft.) set across three floors of MetLife Shinjuku Square, a mixed-use structure built in the early 1980s. Each floor features a distinct design – mind you, approximately 94% of the materials used is eco-friendly and both fixtures and furniture pieces are made from scraps and recycled materials – that’s based on a specific concept.
The ground floor is conceptualised as a dry landscape garden, crafted from aarth and stone as key materials. One floor up, the concept is Pond gardens, and it’s one that comes with an idyllic tea house, created largely from glass, wood and traditional washi paper. The third floor is designed with a kimono shop in mind, and interestingly, the concept is based on the aim to forge a close bond with shoppers, just like kimono shops in the Edo period (1603-1868). The sales floor is designed as a welcoming garden where shoppers can sit back and relax an perhaps ponder over the next purchase. And while, the store sells curated vintage luxury goods, it also purchases such items. The opening of ALLU SHINJUKU aligns with the retail brand’s increased effort to contribute to our transition to a recycling-oriented society. © superfuture
ALLU SHINJUKU
MetLife Shinjuku Square, 3-1-20 Shinjuku (Shinjuku)
Tokyo 160-0022
Telephone +81 3 45809865
Daily 11am-9pm
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.
