Shiseido opens its new concept store Beauty Square in Tokyo’s Harajuku district today.
Located on the first floor of the With Harajuku commercial complex, the 793sqm Shiseido Beauty Square will offer digital experience-based features and a salon, besides its cosmetics ranges.
Shiseido describes the new retail space as “a spot offering experience and communication to discover, enjoy, and share beauty”.
Beauty Square is divided into four zones – Go-live, Brand, Installation, and Salon.
Located at the entrance, the Go-live Zone features a large LED display and signage showing live streaming, video programs, and promotional content.
The Brand Zone ranges a variety of Shiseido products, covering makeup, skincare and hairstyling. Brands on sale include IPSA, Cle de Peau Beaute, The Ginza, Shiseido Professional, Dolce＆Gabbana Beauty, Nars, BareMinerals, and Laura Mercier.
A large 4×4 meter LED screen and moving headlights are installed at the Installation Zone which will host events, including digital content and pop-up stores.
Colorful spheres and motifs “represent the diversity of beauty, constantly change in light and image in sync with body movement and time,” the company explains.
Here, customers can experience virtual avatar content using Zepeto, an app developed by Naver which allows users to create 3D avatars. There are more than 15 million users of Zepeto in Japan, who at Shiseido Beauty Square can customize their avatars with their favorite makeup and fashion.
In the Installation Zone, customers go through a virtual experience projecting their avatar character in the store’s special virtual space, taking pictures with friends and avatars of famous brand ambassadors.
Zepeto actively launches various features and new content, starting from the virtual space, and will provide users with new experiences daily.
The Salon Zone (above) offers personalized makeup and hairstyling with Shiseido’s beauty artists
In addition to Beauty Square, the With Harajuku complex also houses a restaurant called Shiseido Parlour The Harajuku on the 8th floor and a beauty academy Sabfa on the second floor.
Sabfa conducts training for beauty professionals who have a cosmetology license, but in the new stores, training will be expanded to those without a license as a means to nurture more leaders in the profession.
The new Shiseido parlour restaurant overlooks the forest surrounding the Meiji Shrine. The interior was supervised by Kazuya Ura and the menu features a mixture of French and Japanese cuisine.