FASHION

Japan’s Tomorrowland Store Comes to New York

Founder Hiroyuki Sasaki gives us a tour.

by Emilia Petrarca

Tomorrowland

During New York Fashion Week, Japanese fashion label Tomorrowland debuted its first store abroad, a lofty Soho space hung with paintings by Sue Williams and Alex Katz. Though it took 38 years for the brand—known for elegant, genderless, timeless takes on casual classics—to make it to the States, it was a long-ago trip to the Big Apple that inspired founder Hiroyuki Sasaki to start the company in the first place. “I had a dream of creating my own ‘land’ after traveling to all these different places,” Sasaki says.

In Japan, Tomorrowland also manages stores for western brands like Acne Studios, Dries van Noten, Golden Goose, and Isabel Marant, whom founder Hiroyuki Sasaki has known for 20 years. “This village is filled with my friends,” he said of Soho. “Everybody told me to come! This area has a good energy. When people started coming in I thought: ‘Wow! Very fashionable! Good neighbors.’”

Despite Tomorrowland’s global expansion, Sasaki feels strongly about his company sticking to its traditional roots. While sitting in the Soho store, which carries other Japanese designers as well as Tomorrowland’s in-house label, he emphasized the importance of staying power. “A couple of days ago, my daughter, who now lives in my old house, was going through my closet and found a sweater from our collection 37 years ago—and it looks like what we have in the store today! When I saw it I thought, ‘Oh no, we didn’t grow up!’ But then I realized we are consistent, and that’s all I want.”

Tomorrowland is located at 476 Broome Street.

Photos: Japan’s Tomorrowland Store Comes to New York

Hiroyuki Sasaki. Photo courtesy of Tomorrowland.

Tomorrowland. Photo courtesy of the brand.

Tomorrowland. Photo courtesy of the brand.

Tomorrowland. Photo courtesy of the brand.

Photo courtesy of the brand.

1/5