Vintage graduation
CEO Tobe Naoaki's boutique Grimoire has been responsible for so many important fashion moments in Tokyo's recent fashion history. Even those who have never wandered into its loving re-imagining of turn-of-the-century European fairy-tale style will have most likely seen one of its acolytes either on the streets or online. And those fans have gone by many names over the years from dolly-kei (inspired by vintage dolls) to mori-kei (forest girl). What is all the more remarkable about Grimoire is that it is a cult of fashion built on second-hand clothes, reworked on occasion, but mostly just brilliantly repackaged by the shop staff's styling and the overall direction of a store that has long courted youth hungry for expression on a budget.
Now, seven years since its founding, Grimoire's original clients are starting to grow up, and accordingly Tobe is catering for the slightly older generation with a new venture: Grimoire Beryl. The new store opened on the fourth floor of the same Shibuya building as the original Grimoire last month and is stocked with garments aimed at customers in their 30s and 40s. Still pleasing those on a budget, Grimoire Beryl echoes a graduation of vintage styling that may just help second-hand clothing break free from the stigma it once suffered in mainstream fashion.