Futurism and Footwear: Ura Tokyo by Insideout.

Tucked away on a backstreet in Harajuku/Jingumae, Tokyo, in a basement that could easily be mistaken for a Bond character’s underground lab, is Ura, a concept store by fashion designer Mihara Yasuhiro. In a compact 47 square metres, Insideout has created a space that heroes socially and environmentally responsible designer shoes, giving them a platform that challenges the traditional notions around sustainable design, highlighting that it doesn’t always need to be all hemp and no high-end.

Despite the highly reflective and radiant environment, an innate sense of tranquillity comes to the fore in a veil of fluorescent lighting, pierced by a mirrored obelisk-like mass that breaks the boundary between inside and out. This transition is seamless in its join to-and-through the glass shopfront, trickery that is relied on once again inside the store, as we see this rectangle rest on a glass box.

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Inside, a zen garden of sorts has been created with a small bed of rocks, speaking to the larger boulders on which the obelisk rests. The stones become a play on the fragility of their surroundings, whilst highlighting the tough nature of the shoes and their ability to face rough terrains.

For the design team at Insideout, a key consideration was playing with these extreme conceptual juxtapositions, as the general aesthetic of the concept store challenges the ethos behind the brand. However, the effect is such that the products are very clearly dotted throughout the space, standing out against the backdrop of the clean and clinical interiors and speaking to the idea that socially and environmentally responsible products are the future.

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Mirroring is repeated across the space as a backdrop, enhancing the spatial capacity of the basement without having to physically shift the perimeters. This feels particularly important in considering the environmentally conscious brand housed within, as space is used sparingly. Accompanying these mirrored walls are several LED screens displaying a range of graphics and playing into the flexibility and freedom of the space, as well as a (somewhat unexpected) stainless steel bench and basin.

The adaptability provided by these screens and a range of non-concrete installations (on which the shoes are displayed) suggests a brand that is ever-changing and growing, as is the nature of the world in which it has been created. In fact, Ura means “backside, opposite, behind, reverse” in Japanese, once again alluding to the conceptual contrasts embedded in the very DNA of the brand.

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[Images courtesy of Insideout. Photography by Kozo Takayama.]