What I bought in Japan

Going off at The North Face Purple Label, outerwear bangers from Beams, a new favorite zip hoodie, rare books, and more!

Ok, it feels like all I’ve been doing recently is talking about Japan. We’re going back to regular scheduled programming soon, promise. We’ve done the shopping guides, the store experiences, but now it’s time to share everything I ended up picking up during my trip—spoilers, there’s a lot. I mean, I had to buy another suitcase just to haul everything back home, but it was totally worth it.

In today’s newsletter I’m taking you with me to spend a bag at The North Face Purple Label, a reflective outerwear hit from Beams that I’m obsessed with, discovering a brand that focuses on beautifully crafted cotton basics that don’t break the bank, buying enough books to open up a library with, and more!

Just some of my pickups from The North Face Purple Label, Nanamica, Beams, and Hender Scheme.

---

To maximize space for today’s round-up—because there’s a lot to go through—I did write about all of my recent purchases over at Hender Scheme in a previous newsletter, which you can read here.

Hender Scheme’s leather quality is on a level that I didn’t know was possible. Maybe the best leather goods money can buy.

---

THE NORTH FACE PURPLE LABEL

Before my trip to Japan I had written down a bunch of brands that I had to check out that aren’t as easy to get over in North America. The North Face Purple was obviously at the top of my list. Duh. Visiting the store was amazing and overwhelming all at the same time. There’s just a lot of great clothing and accessories to choose from, and I needed to be strategic with my purchases because it was only day one of my trip—blowing a bag here was a little too easy. Funny enough Kith’s very own Ronnie Fieg was also in the store going crazy with his own purple label picks. Everyone loves this brand. Anyway, enough yapping, let’s look at the stuff I picked up.

I’m still depressed knowing Purple Label is exclusive to Japan because everything they make is simply amazing. Great quality, prices are solid, and the overall designs don’t feel like the North Face to be honest. For the uncultured, Purple Label is ran by Nanamica. If I’m not mistaking, they focus on the distribution and design. If you shop at both, you can sort of see the various style and cut similarities between the two.