What Union Tokyo is known for

Tokyo outpost of LA streetwear institution Union, opened 2018 in Jingumae/Harajuku (2-26-5 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku) by founder Chris Gibbs as a franchise with Japanese distributor Jack Inc., stocking Union's in-house line and partner labels like Fear of God and Brain Dead.

Union Tokyo is the first international outpost of Union LA, the Los Angeles streetwear and menswear store that Chris Gibbs has run since the early 1990s (Union LA itself opened in 1991). The Tokyo store opened in 2018 at 2-26-5 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku -- in Harajuku, an area with which Gibbs said he had a long personal history, having visited Tokyo regularly for around fifteen years before opening a store there. The roughly 2,000-square-foot shop was Union's first new location in 27 years and was set up as a franchise partnership with Jack Inc., which also serves as Union's distributor in Japan; opening-day crowds reportedly required police attendance. The Tokyo store carries Union's own in-house collection alongside curated partner and collaboration brands the company favours, such as Fear of God and Brain Dead, and was designed to echo elements of the Los Angeles flagship's identity while developing its own character for the Tokyo market and offering some Japan-specific product drops.