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Human Made has opened its first proper flagship in Harajuku, Tokyo, in a three-floor space designed by Tokyo studio I IN. The store is four times the size of the brand’s previous stores and pairs exposed warehouse-style stockrooms with QR-code ordering, recalling NIGO’s earlier BAPE stores while presenting a different retail design.
Human Made has opened its first proper flagship in Harajuku, Tokyo, a three-floor store designed by Tokyo studio I IN that brings together industrial displays, exposed stockrooms and digital ordering. The location is four times the size of the brand’s previous stores and echoes the inventive retail approach associated with founder NIGO’s A Bathing Ape stores in the 2000s.
Highsnobiety’s report describes a store built around glass and stainless steel, with the brand’s range presented on gleaming shelves. Rather than hiding the back-of-house operation, the design leaves stockrooms in view: products are piled in storage containers that customers can see, though they remain just out of reach. The arrangement gives the space an open, warehouse-like quality, rather than the spaceship-like atmosphere Highsnobiety associates with the earlier BAPE stores.
The store carries Human Made’s full range, including the brand’s first original sneaker, the Duck Kick, which the report describes as resembling a trail shoe. Customers can shop by speaking with staff, or scan a product’s QR code to place an order. According to Highsnobiety, the scan alerts employees, who retrieve the selected item from the storage containers in real time.
The report frames the location as an update of NIGO’s retail design ideas, not a replica of his earlier stores. Those BAPE shops used conveyor belts to display sneakers and presented clothes like museum objects, alongside white subway tiles, LED-lit staircases and chrome fixtures. Human Made retains the emphasis on industrial materials and theatrical product display, while combining visible inventory with a digital route to purchase.
A Flagship Built Around Retail Experience
The Harajuku store gives Human Made a larger physical platform for its full product range, while making the retail process part of the visit. Customers can see merchandise and the stock operation, then choose either staff assistance or QR-code ordering. That setup links the brand’s physical space to a digital transaction without concealing the people fulfilling orders.
Its design also makes the store relevant beyond its role as a place to buy clothes. Highsnobiety contrasts Human Made’s glass, steel and exposed stock with a trend in some luxury stores toward warm tones and natural materials, intended to feel separate from digital life. The flagship instead puts technology and inventory on display. The report’s comparison suggests a distinct design direction, though it does not establish how common either approach is across retail as a whole.
For shoppers, the immediate change is practical: the store is substantially larger than Human Made’s previous locations and offers an ordering method that does not require a conventional staff interaction. For the brand, the flagship makes the connection between NIGO’s earlier retail work and Human Made’s current identity visible in a permanent, three-floor setting.
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From BAPE Displays to Human Made
NIGO’s A Bathing Ape stores in the 2000s were designed by Tokyo architecture studio Wonderwall, according to Highsnobiety. The report recalls conveyor belts for sneakers and clothing arranged like museum exhibits, with bright white tile, LED lighting and polished chrome. It presents those stores as an early example of retail designed as an experience, rather than solely as a place to browse and purchase.
Human Made’s new location carries parts of that visual lineage but changes the effect. Where Highsnobiety characterizes the BAPE stores as space-age, the Harajuku flagship uses glass and stainless steel to create a more open warehouse impression. The new store was designed by I IN, not Wonderwall, and the report describes the exposed stockrooms and QR ordering as features of this latest approach.
Highsnobiety links the design to Human Made’s motto, “the future is in the past.” That phrase is the publication’s reported brand motto and offers a concise way to understand the combination of references: an older interest in bold retail display, applied to a contemporary store with digital ordering. The supplied report does not provide a broader corporate history or details about the store’s commercial performance.
““the future is in the past””
— Human Made, as quoted in Highsnobiety
Opening Details Still Unspecified
The supplied report does not state the flagship’s opening date, street address, hours or staffing levels. It also gives no prices, sales figures, customer response or information about whether the QR-ordering system will be introduced at other Human Made stores. The report describes how the ordering process works, but does not specify which payment or collection options are available after a customer scans a code.
The comparison with BAPE’s 2000s stores is a design interpretation attributed to Highsnobiety, rather than evidence that Human Made has described the flagship as a direct recreation. The available information supports a connection through NIGO and shared industrial retail elements; how the brand itself characterizes that lineage beyond its reported motto is not detailed.
More Store Information to Follow
The next practical details for prospective visitors are the store’s exact location, hours and opening arrangements, which are not included in the supplied report. Customers interested in the Duck Kick or other products may also want confirmation of current stock and whether QR ordering is available for every item; Highsnobiety describes the system generally but does not list exceptions.
No further expansion plans or upcoming milestones are stated in the report. For now, the confirmed development is the opening of a larger Harajuku flagship, with its design and ordering system setting out how Human Made is presenting its range in this location.
Key Questions
Where is Human Made’s new flagship?
The store is in Harajuku, Tokyo. The supplied Highsnobiety report does not give a street address or opening hours.
Who designed the Human Made flagship?
The three-floor store was designed by Tokyo design studio I IN, according to Highsnobiety.
How does QR-code ordering work at the store?
Customers can scan a product’s QR code with a phone to place an order. Highsnobiety reports that the scan alerts staff, who retrieve the item from the visible storage containers.
What is the Duck Kick?
The Duck Kick is Human Made’s first original sneaker. Highsnobiety describes its design as trail-shoe-like; the supplied report does not give technical specifications or pricing.
Is the store a replica of NIGO’s old BAPE shops?
No direct replica is described. Highsnobiety draws a design comparison with NIGO’s 2000s BAPE stores, while noting that the Human Made flagship has an open warehouse feel and its own digital ordering system.
Source: rss
