Minato Shops

Comme des Garçons designer Rei Kawakubo has always done things in her own, inimitable way. She favors black, doesn’t believe in mixing two seasons on the shop floor, and limits the availability of her clothing online, believing that the value of trying on a piece and feeling the weight and texture of the fabric far outweighs that of click-and-collect. And the Comme des Garçons flagship in the upmarket Aoyama district defies expectation. Designed by Future Systems under Kawakubo’s direction, the space looks more like an undulating glass display case than a store. Diligent shoppers make the pilgrimage here not only to gawk at the sculptural beauty but to nab those impossible-to-find runway looks.

Sure, you can go to 45rpm’s shops in New York or San Francisco, but you can also go to a day spa in a strip mall—it’s not the same thing. Pay a visit to this legendary label for its simple, beautifully constructed men’s and women’s clothes that mix elements of the Japanese countryside with European silhouettes. The shop is worth visiting on its own: a simulacrum of a Japanese residence, with floors rinsed as per Shinto tradition, and series of quiet rooms to display the label’s brilliance with cotton, denim, and indigo.