VF Corporation opens its newest regional office in Harajuku district, inaugurating the Tokyo Design Collective.
VF Corporation (VFC) has established the Tokyo Design Collective (TDC), its latest design hub in Harajuku district to drive innovative product design and support expanding business growth across the Asia Pacific region (APAC), and beyond. Situated in Tokyo’s iconic fashion district world-renowned for being the centre of Japanese youth culture and fashion, the regional office will be the new home for Dickies, Timberland, and Vans Japan, as well as the newly established TDC team.
The Tokyo Design Collective will aim to reinforce VF’s commitment to infusing aspirational Japanese product design and craftsmanship into its iconic global brands.
“Our TDC and brand teams in Japan are incredibly excited about our new home in the heart of Harajuku and the role it will play to drive a global brand halo through what we call our ‘Japan for Japan for the rest of the world’ strategy. We will use this new centre to inspire new design concepts that not only connect with the Japanese consumer but will translate and gain traction in other global markets as well,” shared Mitch Whitaker, the President of North Asia, VF Corporation, and Tokyo Design Collective.
Leveraging the expertise of the TDC in-house design team while drawing from their network of freelance designers, artists, and brands to develop new expressions of Japanese fashion.
The TDC will also serve as a global incubator for talent and inspiration through a “Design in Residence” programme which will welcome designers from across VF’s global brands to live, work, and co-create together in the newly established hub for Japanese streetwear culture. The TDC’s fully resourced design studio is already engaged in several new projects across VF’s portfolio, aiming to kick off many of them in 2023.
“The launch of the new Tokyo Design Collective represents an exciting new chapter in the global expansion of the Dickies brand. We look forward to taking advantage of the incredible design talent and commitment to Japanese craftsmanship these teams will enable, as well as the valuable consumer insights we can capture in this trend-setting market to accelerate growth in Japan and markets around the world,” added Lance Meller, the Global Brand President of Dickies.
VFC’s mission is to “power movements of sustainable and active lifestyles for the betterment of people and our planet. We connect this purpose with a relentless drive to succeed to create value for all stakeholders and use our company as a force for good.”
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