10 Corso Como makes Tokyo come-back, eyes New York opening

By

Dominique Muret

Translated by
Nicola Mira

Published
Sep 6, 2017

10 Corso Como, the temple of Milanese luxury, is returning to Japan after inking a new, local partnership deal. On Tuesday 12th September, the Italian concept store will inaugurate two retail corners in Tokyo, inside two branches of the Sogo-Seibu department store. 

10 Corso Como was founded in 1990 in Milan by Carla Sozzani, and made a first foray into Japan in 2002, opening a store in Tokyo labelled 10 Corso Como/Comme des Garçons. The store was managed as a 50-50 partnership with Rei Kawakubo, and closed down a few years ago.

The two new retail outlets, each of about 30 m2, will be located inside the Seibu Ikebukuro and Seibu Shibuya department stores, and will showcase 10 Corso Como-branded products, recognisable for the drawings and designs by US artist Kris Ruhs, who created the brand's original visual image.

In addition, 10 Corso Como will open two pop-up stores in Tokyo: one at Seibu Shibuya, from 12th to 18th September, the other at Seibu Yokohama from 26th September to 10th October, as reported by the store in its monthly newsletter.
 
10 Corso Como currently operates three stores outside Milan: two in Seoul and one in Shanghai, plus a café-restaurant in Beijing, all of them managed in partnership with local companies. After the Tokyo openings, the next operation will be a major 1,200 m2 store which is expected to open in New York in July 2018.

For this, 10 Corso Como struck a deal with The Howard Hughes Corporation real estate group, which is working to re-develop the Seaport District, a commercial area to the south of Manhattan on the East River, the site of New York's old seaport.