Cover A wide-angle view of the mirrored interior of Tokyu Plaza Omotesando, a Tokyo fashion hub located just off Harajuku's Cat Street (Photo: Getty Images)
A wide-angle view of the mirrored interior of Tokyu Plaza Omotesando, a Tokyo fashion hub located just off Harajuku's Cat Street (Photo: Getty Images)
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From vintage gems to designer hubs, discover Tokyo’s best fashion spots
Tokyo fashion is defined by its refusal to be defined. It’s a city where style lives in contrast between office workers in tailored black and teenagers in towering platforms and between avant-garde designer boutiques and quiet, neutral-toned minimalism. For the fashion-obsessed, this means one thing: Tokyo is an endless treasure hunt.
On a weekday morning, the Chiyoda line is a moving portrait of restraint. Office workers shuffle through the stations in neat rows, dressed in immaculate, monochrome layers of black suits, pressed coats and leather loafers.
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Step onto Takeshita Street, Harajuku’s chaotic heart, and you’ll find hordes of tourists and teen fashion experiments. Here, the Western interpretation of “Harajuku style” is on full display, with chunky Bratz doll platforms, pastel-dyed hair and baby tees with loud graphics. You’ll see lines forming for animal cafes often with a backdrop of selfie-snapping visitors.
You’ll notice locals keeping it composed with long shirtdresses over wide-leg trousers, subtle layers in oatmeal and sage and the sensible clogs. Harajuku is still about play, but these days the dress-up is more nuanced.
Fashion in Tokyo is best discovered on foot. Start in Ginza, where you’ll get your dose of luxury brands all in close proximity. Here, Dover Street Market feels like an art installation in retail form, showcasing everything, from Comme des Garçons and JW Anderson to Wales Bonner and Chopova Lowena. Nearby, Mitsukoshi and Ginza Six provide a classic, high-end department store experience.
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On weekends, the line outside the Onitsuka Tiger flagship store snakes around the corner. A slow-moving queue of sneakerheads and tourists signals the kind of quiet fervor Tokyo excels at.
Head to Shibuya and walk your way to Cat Street, a laid-back corridor cutting through Harajuku and Omotesando. This stretch is Tokyo’s mecca for vintage luxury. At Kindal, you might stumble across a barely-worn Pleats Please Issey Miyake mini dress at a shockingly reasonable price. A few doors down, Ragtag offers racks of archival designer pieces in impeccable condition.
Tokyo style is just as much about how things are made. Japan’s reputation for artisanal quality is well-earned. Seek out stores that focus on Japanese denim, handcrafted leather goods, and intricate jewellery. Whether it’s a raw selvedge jean from Okayama or a hand-tooled wallet from a tiny Shibuya atelier, the pieces you’ll find here are built to last.
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About
Julianna has been interested in leading a literary life since she first read Frances Hodgson Burnett's A Little Princess at eight. Before working with Tatler, she was an archive intern at The Center for Fiction in Brooklyn, New York. She is a textbook Pisces who devotes most of her spare time to her crochet projects, watching classic films, and going through her never-ending pile of unread books. She studied creative writing, global literature and art history at Sarah Lawrence College, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 2022. Toni Morrison, Nora Ephron, Clarice Lispector and Jia Tolentino are among her all-time favourite writers.
Work
Julianna writes about fashion, beauty, sustainability, and the arts. She is always keen on conducting interviews with talented women who are changing the game in their respective fields.
For event invites and story leads, hit her up at julianna.cabili@tatlerasia.com
