Goldwin Inc., the Tokyo-based technical apparel brand, is moving back into U.S. retail.
The company’s new global flagship at 300 Lafayette Street in New York coincides with the relaunch of its North American e-commerce site and is part of its global rollout plan. In January, Goldwin opened a store in London, followed by another in Seoul in February.
The opening of the 1,815-square-foot New York store is part of the company’s “Goldwin 500” plan, which is aimed at driving global growth for the company. By 2033, it plans to open around 113 Goldwin stores globally, the majority of them in China.
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All told, it operates 23 stores in six countries. The company had been operating in the U.S. since 2019 and had a store in San Francisco for a while, but that was before it revamped its strategy.
The Goldwin brand was founded in 1951, starting as a knit fabric manufacturer before evolving into a high-performance apparel company. The brand originally focused on skiwear and now offers a range of products for outdoor activities, sports and lifestyle.
“Now is the time to expand and establish Goldwin as an international brand,” said Shinji Kawada, director of Goldwin. “Goldwin New York will introduce our distinct position as a premium sportswear brand in a city where global perspectives and sensibilities intersect, allowing us to propose a new relationship between city and nature, function and aesthetics.”
Key products in the New York store will include a Gore-Tex 3L blouson, the WF Light series and its opening will also mark the introduction of the Goldwin 0, the company’s experimental performance line, to the North American market. Goldwin 0 is a line of running products designed by creative director Nur Abbas and created at the company’s Tech Lab in Oyabe, Toyama. The company said the collection has proven popular with fashion consumers in other markets.
Price points range from $130 for T-shirts and $240 for pants to $1,350 for technical outerwear.
For its retail rollout, Goldwin is working with the architectural firm New Material Research Laboratory, which has established a design centered around three pillars: “chi” (earth), “kaze” (wind) and “kan” (cycle).
Earth is expressed as a layered accumulation of chi – a Japanese word with the dual meaning of “knowledge” and “earth.” It is intended to signify Goldwin’s decades of technical expertise. Wind expresses the constant flow of time, and cycle represents the continuous movement of energy.
The Goldwin New York store is designed under the “cycle” concept, the company said, and is envisioned as the “eye of the vortex” because of its location in the bustling SoHo neighborhood.
The store will feature a “yashiro,” or ring, in the middle of the main floor that will be visible from the street through the glass facade. Key pieces from the line will be merchandised in this area. Outside the ring will be LED screens installed across 12 pillars that will change frequently. The fitting rooms will feature specially crafted panels made from traditionally dyed Japanese textiles.
“We found a shared philosophy of dedication to special beauty stemming from detail with New Material Research Laboratory,” Kawada said. “The creation of beautiful environments stemming from their commitment to pursuing the inherent logic of function and structure aligns with the Goldwin values upheld in our product development.”
A listed company on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the group also owns the rights to The North Face in Japan and South Korea, as well as a number of smaller brands such as Helly Hansen, Woolrich, Per Se and Allbirds.
Goldwin also wholesales in the U.S. market at specialty retailers such as Hatchel Outdoor Supply in Brooklyn and Nakamuraya in Portland, Ore. There are no plans at this point to add other company-owned stores in this market.
