Representative Blog: "Year-End Greetings and a Look Back at 2025"

This blog is an annual tradition, but I was surprised to see the calendar and realize, "Wow, it's that time of year again." Time flies, and there's only a little left of this year. Amidst the年末の慌ただしさの中, how are you all doing?

Thanks to the cooperation of all concerned parties and everyone's support this year, we were able to safely conclude another year. I sincerely thank you for your continued patronage.

In this CEO's blog, I'd like to reflect on 2025 and also talk a little about our prospects for next year.

I'll also touch on some of our latest information that hasn't been released yet, so I hope you'll take a look.

 

Continuing to Confront Color, Design, and Materials

This year's big hits were items in our newly developed original colors: "Dark Navy" and "Khaki Brown."

We had received many requests in surveys for "more color variations," and I feel that we are finally starting to respond to those voices.

We are confident that the colors, born from repeated adjustments and meticulous attention to detail, have resulted in exquisite shades that are easy for anyone to use.

We are also continuously challenging ourselves in terms of design.

Focusing on the "Multiway Collection," which has become synonymous with LOVST TOKYO's identity, we launched the "Apple 2Way Half-moon Bag" with a zipper, and the "Grape 3Way Chain Bag," which can be used for various occasions.

Similarly, these product developments incorporated requests from user surveys. We are once again grateful that we can explore new possibilities for the brand based on your feedback.

Next year, we plan to adopt higher quality and more durable artificial leather and add a new color, "Dark Brown," to our collection.

Furthermore, we are also working on textile materials and plan to develop our first apparel collection, so we hope you'll look forward to that as well.

 

From Waiting to Going Out and Meeting People

It's sad, but we will be closing the showroom that we have operated for about a year.

Many customers visited us, and listening to them directly was a great encouragement for us as a brand. However,

"We can't just wait around; we have to actively go out and meet more people, or nothing will change!"

Reaffirming our role as a retail company aiming to solve social issues, we decided to take on our next challenge.

Following this, we increased the number of POP-UPs, and in December, we finally achieved our long-held dream of opening a store at Hikarie. Thanks to this, POP-UP sales reached a new record high, and we are very happy that we were able to communicate more with our users.

Next year, we will continue to maintain this momentum and focus on POP-UPs. We have also decided to open our first store at Yokohama NEWoMan, so if you are nearby, please stop by.

We look forward to meeting many of you in person next year.

 

Rethinking Manufacturing from the Field

As someone involved in manufacturing, I am constantly aware of the importance and responsibility of directly seeing "where, by whom, and with what thoughts something is being made."

This year, in particular, was a year where I traveled around to various related parties more than usual.

What left a particular impression on me was visiting "Aizawa Farm," an apple farmer, during a visit to "JA Aoren," who has been instrumental in sharing raw materials with us.

Thanks to the farmer's kindness, I tasted a "Fuji" apple on the spot, and its sweetness surprised me.

Actually, when we use juice pomace as a raw material, we have to limit the content due to its high sugar content, but after tasting such a sweet apple, I understood why.

Through the development of materials, I am deeply honored to have connected with farmers who have been continuously growing apples with an unchanging passion through generations, and with Aoren, who produces delicious apple juice.

By the way, as part of our employee benefits, our members can drink "Kibou no Shizuku (Aoren's apple juice)" at any time. I hope to be able to offer it to all of you sometime if given the opportunity.

Furthermore, this year, we went beyond Japan and visited China. While the focus was on visiting existing partners, we unexpectedly had a connection and were able to develop new factories.

The apparel industry faces many challenges, such as poor working conditions and low-quality materials. In this environment, to deliver our products with confidence, we choose partners that we have personally inspected and approved.

Next year, I want to continue to be proactive and ensure more stable production.

 

Lastly

In recent years, we've started to hear phrases like "the sustainability boom is over."

Indeed, we've seen "sustainable brands" launched by major apparel companies during the COVID-19 pandemic withdraw within a few years, indicating how difficult it is to reconcile the pursuit of short-term profit with social value.

However, global warming is steadily progressing even as we speak, and its effects are becoming severe in various parts of the world, including Japan.

While we also feel a sense of urgency regarding this progression, we strongly believe that "sustainability" is not just a trend but a long-term solution to achieve coexistence with the global environment, and we need to move forward step by step with what we can do.

We will strive daily to meet your expectations in 2026 as well, and we would be grateful for your continued support.