From June 15th to July 19th

Visual Merchandising Studio Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Representative: Kenichiro Hotta, hereinafter referred to as VMS), which handles everything from visual merchandising consulting to implementation, is overseeing the seasonal display for Lumine, a fashion building located mainly in the Tokyo metropolitan area. From June 15th to July 19th, Lumine will be adorned with show windows designed by VMS, featuring the theme of “Phygital Fantasy”.

 

The Theme of Phygital Fantasy

“Lumine” is a station-type fashion building that has gained strong popularity among a young customer base. As a fashion building that gathers trendy fashion, accessories, cosmetics, and more, it has expanded its stores mainly in the Tokyo metropolitan area. The window displays adjacent to the main entrance are important communication tools that convey Lumine’s brand image, and every season window designs based on themes derived from trends and currents are deployed throughout the building.

In Spring/Summer 2023, along with the season theme “Explore the Next,” various life value themes are set, and messages to customers are conveyed through the window displays.

The life value theme being presented from June 15th is “Phygital Fantasy.” Against the backdrop of a world where one can freely move between the real world and the virtual world, VMS is creating designs that invite customers to new discoveries and encounters with their new selves through the window displays.

 

The Theme of Opening the Door to the Next

The designs, with impressive pixels and colorful hues, aim to transcend the boundaries between the real world and the new world, opening the next door and taking a step forward. That is the concept.

“I strongly resonate with the season theme ‘Explore the Next.’ After repeated conversations with myself during the COVID-19 pandemic, I finally visualized the next stage, where I am the only one, a unique and lovable existence. I felt the difficulty in expressing the theme ‘Phygital Fantasy,’ combining the physical and digital, and adding fantasy.

The young generation, which are Lumine’s core customer base, freely move between the real and virtual worlds. They create avatars in the metaverse and venture into colorful new worlds we have never seen before. I wanted to design something that appeals to their sensations.” (Kenichiro Hotta, VMS representative)

 

Expressing a New World View Like a Game

The space is divided in two, representing the “real world” and the “new world” through gates. The inspiration for the new world is a sensual and fantastical game world. The design uses colorful and energetic graphics with pixels to create the world that spreads out in front of you. By passing through a gate, new products appear to emerge as cubes pushed out from the wall, as if in a game. Additionally, different mannequin configurations, gate sizes, and pixel colors are applied to each store, expressing the “human touch” that AI cannot achieve through mannequins, while creating a design that evokes a sense of “encounters with the unknown” when stepping into the new world.

“I would be happy if people could feel energized by looking at the shop windows during this period when summer is approaching, and if they could imagine themselves as someone who takes on challenges.” (Kenichiro Hotta, VMS representative)

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the digitalization of the retail industry has progressed with the active utilization of e-commerce and technologies that depict AR (Augmented Reality) and VR (Virtual Reality). On the other hand, as the pandemic subsides, people are returning to the streets. The theme of Phygital (Physical + Digital) is expected to become a theme that will support retail not only in Japan but also throughout the entire Asian market.

From the perspective of VMS, which is responsible for spatial production, the key point of Phygital is not only the fusion of digital and physical but its combination with CX (Customer Experience) as well. In the window displays of Lumine, this time we aimed to incorporate designs that enhance CX as an added value. By looking at the windows, entering Lumine, and seeing new products from various brands, we want customers to feel a new mood. Through the physical experience of shopping through customer service in the store, we increase the value of physical stores. I thought that the collaboration with Lumine would be an opportunity to enhance the value of the entire commercial facility.

VMS can design shop windows from the perspective of the store. We can logically create displays, but we can also use our magic to create a dreamlike world. Our strength lies in being able to do both. For example, we have reused flowers used in event spatial productions and combined them with AR to create displays where a different story emerges when viewed through a screen. By integrating physical experiences and digital elements, and considering SDGs, we can move towards a direction that is good for the earth and comfortable for customers. That, I believe, is what Phygital is about.

By applying virtual filters, like AR and VR, to things in the real world we can create new stories and apply technology to make ordinary things seem otherworldly. VMS will continue to propose such spatial productions.

 

Kenichiro Hotta, President and CEO of Visual Merchandising Studio Co., Ltd.

Having served as the head of Visual Merchandising for companies such as Louis Vuitton Japan, Dolce & Gabbana Japan, and Issey Miyake for over 15 years, Kenichiro Hotta provides a multi-faceted “Visual Merchandising = VM” service that connects ‘Marketing,’ ‘Storefront,’ and ‘Personnel’ based on the foundation of “Customer-First VM” derived from his own sales experience. He has given seminars and lectures at universities and fashion schools and has made numerous media appearances and publications.

 

About Visual Merchandising Studio (VMS) Co., Ltd.

 https://vmstudio.jp/

A group company of World Mode Holdings, established in 2019. VMS provides a wide range of solutions in the field of Visual Merchandising (VM), including consulting, construction, original fixture development, and training. They propose creating sales spaces that appeal to the visual senses without being confined to the traditional framework of VM. In September 2020, VMS launched the “VMS Academy” to cultivate VM professionals and focused on education by establishing the “VMD Online Salon” to disseminate VMD (Visual　Merchandising and Display) information.