Don’t expect John Lobb to step onto a typical luxury thoroughfare.
For its first store in Kyoto, Japan, the footwear firm chose the historic Shinmonzen area, prized for antique shops, art galleries and stores specializing in a range of handcrafted items.
Its wooden townhouses — known as machiya — shelter ancient scrolls, netsuke, lacquer goods, folding screens, paintings, ceramics and porcelain.
“The area vividly embodies the spirituality and meticulous way of life that have been passed down through generations in Kyoto,” according to John Lobb, citing strong demand for bespoke items for tea ceremonies, for example, in a country where artisans are revered.
The Kyoto boutique – spanning 925 feet over two levels – is described as a concept store that will also offer made-to-order footwear and bespoke orders.
Exclusive to the store are a John Lobb version of zori, the traditional, flip-flop style footwear originally worn with a kimono. They’re made with woven bamboo and leather.
The shoemaker conscripted architect Teruhiro Yanagihara to conceive a retail design in step with a city steeped in history, and devoted to heritage.
John Lobb remains among only a handful of British shoemakers that continue to manufacture welted shoes to a traditional standard.
The Kyoto location brings to seven the number of John Lobb stores in Japan. The brand, founded in 1866, has been present in the island nation for 20 years.
Japan has been a standout country for Europe’s big luxury players, most citing strong double-digit gains there recently, in contrast to modest growth or declines in markets including China and the United States.
Strong tourist inflows from China due to the weak yen, and lingering post-pandemic euphoria among Japanese consumers, are shoring up the increases, analysts say.
