Drake’s in Tokyo: A Conversation with Keiji Kaneko

One of the best things about clothing shops in Japan is that they often don’t really look like shops at all.

Boutique, opened by Keiji Kaneko, is in Aoyama, a polished part of Tokyo: Skyscrapers, office workers on their to and from something important, and a handful of fairly soulless and expensive stores by major European fashion houses. His, however, has the feel of something slightly more intimate. A quiet street and a single story building, a small collection of beautiful clothes placed behind vintage glass cabinets. The furniture looks like it could have been sourced for an exhibition.

“Aoyama is not really known as a fashionable area, like Shibuya or Koenje,” he says, “so I wanted to create a kind of destination where people who were interested would come and find us. I don’t post anything on Instagram, just the days that we are opened. I want it to work with word of mouth.”

“I like the balance between men’s and women’s clothing,” he says. “I’m basically curating men’s clothing that will fit women.” That selection includes vintage Gucci loafers, rare graphic t-shirts, and Hermès leather goods. “I wanted a small store with big furniture,” he says with a laugh, sliding open one of those deep wood cabinets. “My concept was more like a room in a house, so you can move things around and change the store, depending on my mood and my stock.”

“I hope that when you come shopping here it is with intention,” he adds. “The way we have designed everything is for the customer to hopefully appreciate the clothes and the space. Slowing things down. No rush.”