Fashion Fortress

Tokyu Plaza Omotesando Harajuku

Fresh from his work on the new terminals at Haneda airport, award-winning architect Hiroshi Nakamura’s latest Tokyo design, Tokyu Plaza Omotesando Harajuku (dubbed Omohara for short), debuted in April 2012 and caused something of a stir in the fashion-forward Omotesando district.
 
With its prime corner position at the Jingumae intersection, Nakamura’s paen to retail is a vision of light and texture, from its astounding mirror-faceted portal entry to its glass-topped roof lantern and ‘secret’ trump card terrace.

There’s a welter of local fashion brands headlined by multi-label hub The Shel’tter, the first entry into Japan by American Eagle Outfitters, and Tommy Hilfiger’s flagship, but the biggest draw of the design is the beautiful open terrace garden Omohara no Mori, located on the 6/F. With a rather judiciously placed Starbucks close at hand, it’s swiftly become the default coffee and klatsch stop-spot for weary fashionistas in need of a java jolt, amid elegantly stepped decking and a dappled canopy of keyaki trees.
 
And the final feather in this fashionable cap? Sydney brunch guru Bill Granger’s all-day diner Bills is nestled on the 7/F with snapshot-worthy views out over the greenery, making it the perfect backdrop to the perfect signature organic scrambled eggs. Shopping, coffee, brunch and a secret garden in the middle of Megalopolis... who says you can’t have it all?