Building a brand spanking new store from the foundations up is usually the preserve of European luxury brands, but down in Harajuku, a huge new concrete monolith called Tokyo Hipsters Club is an exception to the rule.
With three floors, including a gallery, book store and rooftop cafe besides the retail space, THC is the brainchild of Kobe-based Japanese fashion giant World, whose annual sales top 230 billion yen.
World drafted in British designer Tom Dixon, creative director of Habitat UK, to undertake his first-ever foray into the realm of architecture. Described by Dixon as a "pleasantly brutal space," this foreboding concrete box is being billed as a hangout for rebellious fashionistas, but style-sensitive shoppers expecting to be amazed are likely to come away feeling cheated.