January 20, 2012
Hankyu to the Metrosexual
By Dominic Carter
Given that the market for luxury in Japan has been shrinking in
recent years, Hankyu’s decision to double down by opening a luxury
emporium exclusively for men seems like a bold one.
Giving a new meaning to the word “metrosexual,” the Hankyu Men’s
store is located in Yurakucho, adjacent to the glitzy Ginza shopping
district. With a range of over 350 brands that reads like an A-Z of
global fashion, the store comprises nine levels devoted to superpremium apparel as well as male beauty and grooming.
The ritzy men’s department store targeted at shoppers in their late
twenties to forties follows a successful2008 Hankyu Men’s launch in
Osaka, and appears to emulate the trailblazing and successful Isetan
Men’s store in Shinjuku, Tokyo.
Until now, demand for luxury branded goods in Japan has been
based on the strong cultural need to signify membership of a
“respectable” group in society. There is such a strong structural
component to demand for luxury in Japan that it has led some to
name it (for now at least) the world’s only mass-luxury market.
Nevertheless, in recent years famous foreign brands have taken a hit
due mainly to the stagnant economy. Consumers have tended to
concentrate their investment in luxury on fewer, more expensive
items (often in leather) or in experiences such as Michelin
restaurants or day spas. Especially for apparel, the market has been
embracing cheaper brands such as Uniqlo and H&M, mixing brands
“up and down.”
Luxury buyers, be they male or female, have become more selective
and more empowered. The internet has also given the savvy Japanese
buyer access to a wide range of luxury goods at prices that cannot be
met by traditional retailers. The proliferation of goods on the
Internet is just one more nail in the coffin of the traditional
department store format, which has been in decline for twenty years.
However, Hankyu is clearly not taking the fight lying down. The
company has shown it still has the willingness to invest big in the
department store format.
“In many ways, what they have done with Hankyu Men’s is a return
to what department stores in Japan used to be,” says Nicole Fall,
owner of trends and innovation agency 5 By 50.
“They are creating a holistic experience where men can be
challenged and excited. They are putting the fun back into
shopping.”
The new Hankyu store throws down the gauntlet to specialty apparel
upstarts such as H&M and Forever 21 that have invaded Ginza in
recent years, challenging them by creating a uniquely enjoyable and
rarefied shopper experience. While the fast-fashion chains have
taken a value-for-money seeking market by storm, Hankyu evidently
believes there is no substitute in Japan for “real” luxury in terms of
emotional satisfaction.
But why has Hankyu chosen to put the “red ocean” of women’s
fashion in second place and throw its lot in with men? While the
phenomenon of the metrosexual has only recently been celebrated in
western countries, influenced by popular magazines such as “Leon,”
urban Japan ese males increasingly are more than willing to spend
significant amounts on grooming and fashion. For young Japanese
men, appearing overly “put together” has never risked the image of
their masculinity, so there is great value in appealing to their
vanity.
Indeed, the male fashion market appears underserved and we could
be at the start of a new mega-trend of male fashion, grooming and
lifestyle. According to Roy Larke, Editor of Japan
Consuming,
“the stereotypical salaryman in a bad suit?? Those
days are over. Men who are young and not so young want to dress
well. Even in the context of a shrinking fashion market overall, men
still face a dearth of shopping options that cater to their needs.”
Demographics also plats an important role in understanding the
decision to open a men’s only house of luxury. According to Fall,
“Societal structures and values are changing in Japan. By 2030,
perhaps a third of men will remain single. Many men in their 30′s
do not have a wife shopping with them, and there is no need to
create stores that target everyone in the family.”
So, can we expect Hankyu Men’s to succeed? Certainly, they have
made a huge investment in catering to an underserved group. They
have planted their flag in the super-premium space, differentiating
themselves not only from other department stores but from other
retail formats.
Larke offers an interesting perspective on their strategic options,
“They could have got it wrong with such a high-end offering if
there’s a further downturn in the economy, but what else could they
have done to generate the same impact? They still have the
flexibility to adapt by moving downmarket if they need to. If they
had targeted the mid-range, it certainly would have been hard for
them to move up. As it stands, Hankyu has rightly gone for a really
unique market position.
Perhaps Hankyu’s strategy is inspired: create an aspirational
destination for a huge, underserved segment, with the flexibility to
move the format over time into a wider market. Certainly they
deserve credit for continuing to invest and innovate their business
and we should wish them the best of luck.