This newfound focus on people gave Beams a clear direction for the 2010s. Adapting to the era of social media, Beams turned a member of the PR team into a brand ambassador and later appointed her director of the biggest women’s label. In addition, Beams would extend its secret weapon—its staff’s editorial prowess and discerning eyes—to other companies through the Beams Institute of Creation. After collaboration with the automotive company SUBARU, the Institute produced fashion brands for famous female celebrities as well as books and performances.
2010's
A MATURING MARKET AND DIVERSIFICATION
From 2014 to 2015, Beams renovated its original Harajuku location to focus on men’s casual wear. The first floor would become home to a series of revolving pop-up shops—the store as seasonal magazine. Every few months, staff would completely change the interior and merchandising to offer a seasonal theme. Some of these ideas turned into permanent stores elsewhere. New York’s Pilgrim Surf + Supply, for example, took part in a pop-up and went on to work with Beams to open an entire flagship in Shibuya. The second floor of the Pilgrim Surf+Supply store is the women’s flagship casual store, which recently underwent a renovation to become the first in the company’s history to be created for women by women.
After the economic crisis of 2008, menswear became even more focused on traditional styles and brands. During this time, Beams Plus caught the eye of Toby Bateman, managing director of the e-commerce site Mr Porter. The label found further distribution in New York City’s Bergdorf Goodman department store. With Beams Plus, the company was respected not just as a retail shop but as a clothing brand as well. Even now, the label remains one of the pillars of the company’s export strategy.
Beams’s business started with the idea of introducing great global products to Japan, but in 2016 the company launched a new project called Beams Team Japan to support Japanese goods, people, and things. Beams worked with local governments countrywide to compose guidebooks for various regions and to create new goods based on local craft traditions. The Shinjuku store became Beams Japan, stocked with clothing and items, from traditional to subcultural, that reflect a Japanese sensibility or take advantage of Japanese craftsmanship. The company is now exporting these original made-in-Japan goods to London and Paris. That same year, Beams worked with Mr Porter to hold an exhibition at London’s Men’s Fashion Week showcasing Japan’s up-and-coming brands.
Beams’s core approach has remained unchanged since the beginning: casting a light on quality products from around the world and leaving customers with beaming smiles. That mission has already taken the brand across all of Japan, and now the world, and will surely continue to grow into the future.
Text: Kaname Murakami / WWD JAPAN, Editor-In-Chief W.DAVID MARX / Author of "Status and Culture" and "Ametora"
