Japanese brands are hot tickets for US, EMEA buyers says wholesale platform JOOR

Japanese fashion brands are seeing “a significant upturn in demand from international buyers” in key markets, according to digital international wholesale platform JOOR. 

The company’s data showed the demand is “being led by the strength of its men’s and unisex fashion sectors”.

Japanese labels on the platform include Sacai, Nepenthes, Gramicci, A Bathing Ape, Auralee, Issey Miyake, Nanamica, Descente, Yohji Yamamoto, and Beams Plus.

JOOR added that the number of retailers who placed orders with Japanese brands in 2023 on the platform rose 8% year on year. And the menswear and unisex categories made up nearly 60% of transaction volume for Japanese brands, “a much more significant portion of wholesale transaction volume than on the platform overall”.

It’s interesting that during last year, 77% of wholesale transactions for Japanese brands were driven by small and medium-sized (SMB) retailers around the world. Again, this is a higher proportion than the 57% of SMB purchasing volume across the entire platform.

SVP of Marketing Amanda McCormick Bacal said the company “has a long established relationship within the highly respected Japanese fashion market and continues to support brands’ growth by helping them reach a global audience”. And she added that the data suggests indie US and European-based retailers and buyers are particularly buying into the Japanese labels.

Sales of Japanese brands outside APAC have grown from 13% to 21% of total Japanese brand sales over 2021 to 2023. Sales to North America-based retailers rose by 62% while sales to EMEA-based retailers grew 38% during the period.

The top five countries outside APAC buying Japanese brands have consistently remained the US, UK, Canada, Italy, and France, with the last three all steadily increasing their purchase volumes.