Japanese department store Wako has begun a six-month residency at Ogata, the Paris restaurant founded by Shinichiro Ogata, taking over part of its ground floor through April 30.
The idea took shape over dinner, according to Wako president and CEO Kiyoko Niwasaki, after a two-week pop-up exhibition at the retailer's store centered on tea and fragrance drew a strong response. Ogata is now returning the favor.
Niwasaki told WWD that a few days would not be enough. Six months, long enough to see the seasons change, lets Wako become part of local daily life and gives visitors time to grasp what the company is.
The selection spans Japanese crafts and contemporary design: bamboo works, ceramics, lacquerware and tea ceremony objects, including designer Yosuke Fujii's contemporary take. Ceramics and lacquer appear in bold forms by Kai Tsujimura and Kansai Noguchi's lacquer pieces with metallic powders and mother-of-pearl inlay.
Early in the new year, Wako's in-house Pure Craft ready-to-wear line and Suiha bags join the mix, timed to Paris Fashion Week in January - what Niwasaki called "culture to be worn."
Now in the second year of its overseas pop-ups, Wako is using the residency to learn how its fashion resonates with European consumers in Paris, which Niwasaki described as the global epicenter of luxury and art. She framed the move as a chance to reconsider Japanese beauty internationally and to carry forward the "always one step ahead of the rest" spirit of Seiko founder Kintaro Hattori; the store occupies the neo-Renaissance building that once housed the watchmaker's headquarters.
Rather than a one-off venture, Niwasaki said Wako aims for a two-way circulation of business and culture, bringing insights from international customers back to its Ginza flagship while tempting Paris visitors to Tokyo. The company is weighing a longer-term road map that could include other major cities, with London and New York among the destinations she named.
Originally reported by WWD