Nike Roshe Run

Nike Roshe Run came out of nowhere to ride the wave of high-fashion gone casual, and was embraced by sneaker freaks and the general populace alike.
Starting out on the more subdued side, with Premium, woven and block coloured editions being released, the Roshe Run then branched out to include colour-ways for the more select market.

 

 

More likely to be seen on the streets of Tokyo are the Tie-Dye, Nebular, Rainbow woven (I have seen these both in shops and on the feet of Tokyoites) and my personal favourite, Island Girls.

 

 

 

Taking it Down Town, Nippori

A five minute walk out the south exit of Nippori station in Tokyo is Textile Town. While daunting at first the layout is super easy and after the first visit you can make a few quick purchases as you wait for your transferring train out of Tokyo.

'Pinapple' from Tomato (Select), Liberty flower prints from パキラ

The Tomato stores are a chain with each one supposedly specialising in a particular textile, with five stores located randomly down the street and half of them having junk, it's easy to get disheartened. The one saving grace is the 'Tomato (Select)' Store which is the closest to the station. It’s two stories and stocks the more high quality textile and locally designed linens.

Liberty fabrics (often does colabs with Nike) can be sourced in both Tomato (Select) and the パキラ store.

 

Sparse on silks and wool blends and workable knits, you can’t compare it to Global Fabrics designers off cuts that I'm use to but for a kooky linen print you've got the right place.

 

ZOZOTOWN.jp

ZoZoTown website has a simple yet spot on concept, selected shops in Japan pair together looks from stocked labels, picking from a range of collections, with everything being sourced in store. Basically it's an online stylist, find a combo that sparks an interest and then head down, fish it out or buy online. They even have an app out by the same name, all in Japanese obviously.

 

Check it out at http://zozo.jp/, make sure to browse Freak's Store, a personal favourite

 

Saves time while shopping in Tokyo, even works in the reverse, with the stores giving an honest showing of their overall feel you know where to save your feet a few blisters and not bother.

This is just one facet of the ZoZoTown concept, they also do home wear and have ZoZoGallery, ZoZoPeople ect.

Find the European branch dealing with Tokyo brands at http://zozotown.com/

Literal Translations

 

 

A forest motif saved me from going a bit too far this week. I was hoping to not make too much of a literal translation, with just red and white, I would have been a walking Japanese flag.