<\/p>\n
\n\tLONDON \u2014 Seiya Nakamura has spent 12 years building a global fashion business that reaches beyond wholesale.<\/p>\n
\n\tHis namesake company, Seiya Nakamura 2.24, handles distribution for brands including Jacquemus, Paloma Wool, Satisfy and Toteme, managing sales to more than 1,600 stores globally, while developing retail and consulting work alongside its sales and public relations services.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe company has opened a number of stores, pop-ups and an event and exhibition space, and it has more than 10 retail projects in the pipeline for the Japanese market for 2027.<\/p>\n
\n\tNow Nakamura is taking that broader approach into China. The brand set up a Shanghai office and showroom in 2019 serving more than 30 accounts, including Courr\u00e8ges, Isabel Marant, Jean Paul Gaultier, Amomento and Gimaguas, as well as Chinese brands such as Shushu\/tong and Feng Chen Wang for overseas sales.<\/p>\n
\n\tFrom October, the company is planning pop-ups for Paloma Wool within the historic former French concession and The Frankie Shop at the upscale shopping mall R\u00e9el near Jing\u2019an Temple in Shanghai, WWD can exclusively reveal.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\tPaloma Wool spring 2027<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy of Paloma Wool<\/p>\n
\n\tThe projects mark a step from supporting brands through sales and public relations toward 360-degree localized brand development and developing retail experiences in China.<\/p>\n
\n\tNakamura said the company wants to adapt its service to each label rather than transfer a single model from Japan.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cWe don\u2019t want to be just a copy-and-paste model that other companies have been doing. We really want to understand the purpose of the brand, to really tailor the services in each project that we are actually working on,\u201d he said during an interview in Paris.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe China expansion builds on a multibrand retail strategy in Japan, where it has developed relationships with major retailers and shopping centers to negotiate better terms and locations.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\tThe Seiya Nakamura showroom in Paris.<\/p>\n
\n\tChina, however, is not simply a larger version of Japan.<\/p>\n
\n\tNakamura said the company has worked in China through brand activations, but the pop-ups give it a more direct opportunity to test retail development there. The objective is to understand what works for each brand and how to build a local connection, rather than use the same format everywhere.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cWe can really understand the purpose of the brand, to really tailor the services in each project. We are not, let\u2019s say, a typical distributor. We are not typical sales agents. We are not a typical PR company, and we are not just a retail developer. For me, 2.24 is a platform,\u201d he touted.<\/p>\n
\n\tHe sees purpose and customer engagement as essential to physical retail.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s not just a store,\u201d he said, adding that brands need more than a location to attract shoppers in a highly developed market like China. \u201cEvery brand, every store, if they don\u2019t have a purpose, then they\u2019re gone.\u201d Customers, he added, want engagement and brands need to build community.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\tThe hoarding of The Frankie Shop pop-up in Shanghai.<\/p>\n
\n\tThat emphasis on local understanding informed Nakamura\u2019s view of China\u2019s broader fashion opportunity.<\/p>\n
\n\tHe sees potential not only for international labels entering the country, but also for Chinese designers looking to grow. He pointed to the country\u2019s supply chain, the international experience of many designers, and the scale of the domestic market.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe company\u2019s approach also relies on being present in the markets where it works. Information may be easy to find, Nakamura said, but it cannot replace meeting people and experiencing a place directly. Case in point: for the past few years, the company hosted a cocktail reception at Mi Shang, the restaurant within Prada Rong Zhai, during Shanghai Fashion Week to engage with local heavyweights and global visitors.<\/p>\n
\n\tNakamura launched the company 12 years ago as a sales business because wholesale was a simpler way to start, but selling products was never the full plan.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI always wanted to do brand development, which is like sales and PR, marketing, retail consulting,\u201d Nakamura said. He sees those services as connected parts of a business, with the showroom serving as a platform threading through the value chain.<\/p>\n
\n\tWith three global offices and a 27,000- square-foot Paris showroom, the company has worked with around 80 brands and clients, with some seeking public relations, others consulting and others sales support. The level of involvement can vary by brand.<\/p>\n
\n\tNakamura told WWD earlier that wholesalers could add value by understanding the market and making a brand\u2019s values tangible. He also argued that young labels need more than design talent to grow sustainably.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\tThe T.T. Taiga Takahashi store in Kyoto, Japan.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy<\/p>\n
\n\tThat thinking is visible in 2.24\u2019s work with T.T. Taiga Takahashi, the vintage-inspired label founded by the Central Saint Martins-trained designer, who passed away in 2022.<\/p>\n
\n\tNakamura recalled encouraging the designer just before the COVID-19 pandemic to build a business around his own interests and strengths, and focus on direct relationships with customers.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI told him, \u2018Let\u2019s do retail. You don\u2019t need to have maybe 200 people, 1,000 people, 1 million people. Let\u2019s just talk to 20 people every day,\u2019\u201d Nakamura recalled.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe partnership developed into a Kyoto retail concept combining a store with a tea house. Nakamura said the space has become a destination and the tea house has been fully booked months in advance.<\/p>\n
\n\tAfter Takahashi\u2019s death, continuing the brand was difficult, but the team felt it was important to carry forward what the designer had built. In 2027, the brand will bring its tea house concept to Tokyo, and a full range of fashion and lifestyle offerings.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\tSeiya Nakamura<\/p>\n
\n\tFor Nakamura, that kind of work is part of brand development: understanding a designer, shaping a concept and connecting it to an experience customers can take part in. It is an equally meaningful role to placing collections with retailers, and one he hopes to extend through his company\u2019s presence in China.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe company\u2019s next phase, Nakamura said, is about yielding harvest from the soil it has nourished in the past 12 years, giving the brands the knowledge and attention needed to grow.<\/p>\n
#Seiya #Nakamura #Expands #Brand #Development #Model #Japan #China<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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