Laila Tokio, the vintage Tokyo fashion store that draws the world’s top designers
- Hideo Hashiura, the founder of Laila Tokio, says that famous designers who know the value of vintage fashion visit his store to buy items of clothing
- He explains why, despite being unfashionable in most Asian countries, retro classics are still cool
If it were not for the shop assistant tapping out a message on her mobile phone, this could be a boutique on London’s Carnaby Street in the 1960s. The colours are bright, the designs – high necks, billowing blouses, bold and heavy jewellery – are a throwback to another time, the materials are rarely utilised in modern-day high-street fashion.
While vintage fashion is still decidedly unfashionable in the vast majority of Asian countries, Laila Tokio is ground zero for the retro look in Japan. And there are a growing number of consumers from abroad who are being won over by the old in preference to the new.
“Fashion is just too bland and boring today and designers for the big-name high-street outlets are simply copying what has been done before,” says Hideo Hashiura, who opened Laila Tokio in 2002 and has since expanded his vintage retail empire to five stores.
“Many of them are looking at vintage fashion, back to when designs and colours and materials were interesting, and they want to use that in their own creations.”
It may not be completely original, Hashiura told the Post, but it does indicate that there is an appreciation within the industry for much of what has gone before and he is confident that sooner or later, more consumers are going to recognise that.
