R by 45rpm

Profile

With a grooved stone pathway, the façade of a wooden temple, and shrinelike limestone dressing rooms, this Japanese clothing store is the retail equivalent of a Zen garden. Its tranquil of-this-earth aesthetic extends to the design and display of the clothing as well. Jeans, made from Zimbabwean cotton and hand-dyed indigo, cascade from the branches of the trademark wooden tree; shredded cuffs on plaid coats stay in harmony with the hay-flecked, clay wall; and a huge array of Jomon and Sorahiko denims—woven on vintage shuttle looms—balance out the in-house line of fashionable jackets, shirts, and sweaters (many made with organic materials like boiled wools and Suvin cotton). Yet even with all that good karma in the air and on the racks, these edgy jeans and deconstructed styles somehow epitomize Tokyo cool. — Aaron Rasmussen

Related Stories

Featured In

• Picks of the Week (1/14/02)