BAYCREW’S and ITOCHU Established Joint Venture

BAYCREW’S aims to branch out from apparel into a range of lifestyle businesses such as the food, interior and fitness businesses, in a bid to add fun, enjoyment, surprise and emotion to various life situations. Meanwhile, ITOCHU sees all lifestyle businesses as its business domain and is promoting a forward integration business strategy with enhanced customer focus. BAYCREW’S and ITOCHU have built a strong partnership centered on apparel OEM production transactions for more than 25 years and, prior to establishment of the joint venture, when BAYCREW’S opened its first CITYSHOP store in Minami Aoyama in December 2015, ITOCHU acted as BAYCREW’s agent, negotiating the contract, developing and producing original merchandise, and importing foreign merchandise. With Yuichi Yoshii as Creative Director, CITISHOP proposes new standards in fashion, food and culture, housing a new style of delicatessen and offering a selection of fashion from the CITYSHOP brand and other domestic brands, vintage clothing, art and household goods. BAYCREW’s also has an e-commerce presence, selling goods through the BAYCREW’S GROUP official website Style Cruise in Japan and the website Farfetch overseas.

In the Japanese market, growth of inbound demand driven by Asia is expected in the run-up to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Under such conditions, ITOCHU and BAYCREW’S decided to establish the joint venture, believing there to be an urgent need to strengthen Japan’s ability to disseminate and propose new content originating in Tokyo, the epicenter of Asian fashion. Moving forward, BAYCREW’S and ITOCHU aim to expand the CITYSHOP business through TRIWORKS and create new business by introducing quality brands and content from Japan and overseas. The two companies are also examining utilizing ITOCHU’s overseas network and BAYCREW’S retail expertise to expand the business overseas and aim to achieve sales of YPN 3 billion five years from now.