Japanese Label Comme des Garçons Sets Sights on Latin America With São Paulo Debut

Comme des Garçons is preparing its foray into Latin America, with a first opening in Brazil. The Japanese designer fashion company plans to open in May next year in the Iguatemi São Paulo shopping mall, the oldest in operation and which is mainly for luxury.

The store will also be designed by Japanese brand creator Rei Kawakubo, who launched the company in 1969. It will be installed alongside other luxury brands such as Balenciaga, Loewe, Chanel, YSL, Cartier and Bottega Veneta, as advanced by the specialized media WWD.

The mall, which has traditionally served as a gateway for luxury stores to Brazil, estimates that it receives an average of 50,000 visitors each day, who visit the stores of brands such as Armani, Tiffany & Co., Ermenegildo Zegna, Louis Vuitton, Chanel and Ferragamo.

The Comme des Garçons store will be designed by its creator, the Japanese Rei Kawakubo.

In fact, last month Balenciaga announced the installation of its new store in this location, a boutique of three hundred square meters. And in May, it was Spain's Loewe that opened a 118-square-meter store in the mall, the latter also marking the brand's first opening in Latin America.

The Japanese firm is known for its deconstructed avant-garde style and transgender approach. Recently, The North Face announced a new collaboration with Comme des Garçons to create an exclusive collection that will be available in both companies' stores.

In addition, the Comme des Garçons company is still owned by its founder, no conglomerate. The company includes the Junya Watanabe Comme des Garçons line, owned by designer Junya Watanabe, which has operated within the group since 1993 and is financed and controlled by Comme des Garçons itself. Meanwhile, Noir Kei Ninomiya, Kei Ninomiya's label launched in 2012, also operates its umbrella.