The quest of exclusivity in the modern context of high-end traveling no longer involves five-star hotels and secluded villas. It resides in stealthy shop windows, in experimental flagship branchlets and concept shops where street style encounters couture, and where the merchandise has the story to tell. Another breed of jetsetter has come up, one who not only selects his or her travel experiences with great passion but also selects his/ her fashion.
To these tourists, a trip is incomplete without the discovery of exclusive goods, the access to the fashion houses that became home to them culturally, and participation in the international street fashion world that combines identities, art, and luxury. Whether it be the architectural chic of Comme des Garcons in Tokyo, a mystery wrapped in rock of Chrome Hearts in Los Angeles, or the cult of the Stussy hoodie in capitals of the world - luxury shopping has got a new pulse.
This is the luxury lifestyle site that is proud of anything more than ordinary, the unseen, the elegant and the memorable. Shopping also makes no exception. There is a sense of creating experience that a high-end traveler will want to charter a private yacht in Monaco or to book a custom wellness trip to the island of Bali, this is what the shopping-smart traveler looks about: a story, a memory and a connection to the fashion destination.
Streetwear is not only there to be worn by skaters and musicians any longer. It has been transformed to a worldwide language of personalities and prestige. And just as much as a five-course tasting menu at a vineyard estate or a room in a heredity villa, fashion items created in houses such as Comme des Garcons, Chrome Hearts and Stussy can be construed as the expressions of taste, scarcity and privilege.
Being one of the world leaders in the sphere of luxury tourism, Tokyo is a leading place of contradiction and harmony that also happens to mean reverence and rejection and that is precisely why Tokyo is a fashion capital. At Aoyama, the Aoyama Comme des Garcons store is a cultural icon just as much as a shrine or a museum. Its design curves, as well as the primitive interiors and conceptual presentation open up tourists in a surrounding environment of fashion.
The consumers do not only purchase clothes here; they look at philosophy. Every Comme des Garcons work presents an image of the Japanese avant-garde design. Use of outlets and limited editions, capsules, and exclusivity to Japan only gives a sense of longing and prestige and makes it a holy grail place to visit in order to shop up luxury fashion.
In addition to the flagship, passengers have a choice between concept stores and curated neighborhoods such as the Harajuku or Daikanyama where rare designer collaborations with Comme des Garcons are available on the sly making them disappear.
The discreet Melrose Avenue entrance to Chrome Hearts is also a bucket-list destination to luxury travellers on their way to California. Chrome Hearts has a cult branding as thick as its handcrafted jewelry made of silver-it is not something you run into, it is something you seek.
Chrome Hearts is regarded as one of the best-known brands famous due to its heavy gothic style, punk chic, and rocking clientele, since it provides individual consultations, special orders in leather, and products that are restricted to flagship stores. Looking even at the interiors themselves, dark wood, chandeliers, and sized art, it more resembles a private club than a store.
So whether you are in Beverly Hills in one of the gorgeous villa rentals or are staying on the beach in Malibu, it is Chrome Hearts that can make your Los Angeles experience unique. It is an intimate, raw, memorable and unique experience, just as the city is.
To the initiated, the Stussy hoodie is now an icon of international luxury streetwear not just because of how it looks, but how difficult it may be to get, and the cultural significance it carries. It is a brand that used to operate underground and has recently found itself being courted by affluent retail stores across London's Soho to Seoul's Gangnam.
Stussy is not a mass fashion house. The brand works with incisory exclusivity. Precious drops are local, territorial, and usually related to the in-store experiences. This shortage turns shopping into a luxurious process not only when traveling but in general.
Luxury travellers will sync their journey with fashion falls, fairs, or partnerships. What buying a limited-edition Stussy hoodie in Seoul or London means is not so much purchasing a piece of history, but lawfully appropriating it. It takes place within the travel story, a souvenir that one wears on the body and elevates memory to identity.
There is also the modern-day traveller who needs a touch of urban resistance in his or her wardrobe, Trapstar has moved into becoming a label to keep eyes open in the upscale streetwear world. Partly created in the underground and partly a made in London merchandise with the backing of international superstars, the brand has come to stand as an example of high quality street style culture. To those luxury travelers who are taking that city trip to London, Paris or New York a Trapstar drop is as hard to get as a table in a Michelin starred restaurant. There are limited collections on capsules and pop-up activations, which makes shopping more official, with a touch of urgency. Designed to fit into the looks of a yacht party in Ibiza or a rooftop party in Manhattan, Trapstar items easily incorporate street-infused vigor and worldwide high fashion.
What have yachts, boutique villas, fine food, and designer street wear in common? Access. Personalization. Storytelling. The luxury traveller is no longer a single dimension traveller- he or she is an explorer of other cultures, and a visionary collector. They prioritise aesthetics and authenticity as well as comfort and exclusivity.
That is why such brands as Comme des Garcons, Chrome Hearts, Stussy and Trapstar make sense in luxury travel so much. They are subcultures made luxury - fashion with a strong location, self-identity and emotions. When putting on one of these labels, it is not the same as consumption; it is the involvement into something bigger.
The purpose of this venue is to lead its readers in the path to memorable luxury experiences. That naturally leads to fashion tourism. Just think of combining your Tuscany villa experience with a customized shopping experience in Milan. And so your Tokyo massage holiday where you visit Comme des Garcons. Or shopping through the day on the Rodeo Drive before your private appointment at Chrome Hearts.
To plan a luxury vacation now is not limited to picking an appropriate hotel or destination. It is about bringing individual interests in each stage of the process. And to the image-conscious traveler there is little that is more individualistic than fashion.
The culture of luxury fashion has extended beyond fashion to become a ticket to culture. When you slip into a Trapstar and Stussy hoodie you copped at Seoul Fashion Week, when you flaunt a handcrafted Chrome Hearts ring you got at LA or when you wear a Comme de Garcons blazer bought in Tokyo, you are wearing a slice of the world.
And this is why the site is here: to influence them: to make their experiences profoundly personal, multi-layered and purely yours. Whichever you do, whether shopping, sailing, dining or design, the secret of luxury is in the details.
