Kyoto’s rich heritage of craft and making has proven a seductive proposition for international brands in recent months; Le Labo recently opened a Kyoto store dedicated to ’slow perfumery’, while Italian leathergoods brand Valextra has taken over a former teahouse on Hanami-koji Street, combining historic architecture with icons of midcentury Italian design. Meanwhile, Bangkok-based hotel chain Six Senses revealed a breathtaking Kyoto property, its debut in Japan, last month (April 2024) in the Higashiyama district.
Inside John Lobb’s Kyoto store
Joining the line-up this month is the latest store from historic British shoemaker John Lobb, which has recently been refreshing its physical retail offering with a series of sleek new international addresses. These include the opening of a store at 700 Madison Avenue in New York, created alongside French architecture studio Ciguë, following new outposts in Paris and Los Angeles. Kyoto marks the latest expansion, and sees the brand continue a trend of architecturally astute, aesthetically unique stores, choosing one of the city’s traditional wooden ’machiya’ houses for the outpost.
Citing the popularity of John Lobb in the locale – Japan continues to be a large market for the shoemaker, which has been present in the country for over two decades – the store marks its seventh Japanese location. The new Kyoto store is masterminded by architect Teruhiro Yanagihara, whose eponymous studio is based between France and Japan; here, he combines a mood of Japanese minimalism with the midcentury codes that have defined John Lobb’s other recent openings. Entering through a John Lobb-branded version of the ’noren’ curtain, shoppers are greeted with a sleek interior with floating shelving, curving furniture, and traditional pillars that divide the space. A cabinet of curiosities, meanwhile, displays John Lobb’s various soles and lasts.
The opening also comes with a cultural component: a photographic series featuring the lauded Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda, whose 2023 film, Monster, was released to international acclaim (and a slew of nominations, including a win for Best Screenplay at the Cannes Film Festival). The latest chapter of ‘Lobb Stories’ – which sees the brand ’take a walk’ with talent from around the world – Kore-eda wanders the ancient streets of Kyoto wearing John Lobb’s ‘William’ shoes, the house’s signature monk-strap design. ’With each step, he seemed to confirm the sensation of the old cobblestones beneath his soles,’ says the brand.
John Lobb Kyoto, 256 Umemotocho, 3 chome, Higashiiru Yamatooji Shinmonzendori, Higashiyamaku, Kyoto, 605-0064. Open now.
