Lumine Singapore Managing Director on the new flagship store at Raffles City, retail strategies and unique collaborations

Lumine Singapore has reopened its global flagship store at Raffles City, showcasing a diverse range of Japanese fashion and lifestyle brands. The 7,000-square-foot space features popular labels like Tomorrowland, Beams, United Arrows, and more.

In addition to fashion, the store offers cultural and lifestyle products, including collaborations with Japanese prefectures. For example, you can find traditional crafts from Fukui Prefecture like Sabae City eyeglasses and Echizen City cutlery. Coffee enthusiasts will appreciate the Blue Bottle Coffee store, which offers merchandise such as instant espresso, drinkware, and accessories.

To learn more about Lumine’s operations and retail strategies, Her World spoke with Ms. Nao Miyawaki, the Managing Director of Lumine Singapore, who is celebrating her 20th work anniversary with Lumine.

Tell us a little about yourself and how did you begin your career in the fashion industry?

The business of Lumine is unlike other fashion companies; we operate and run shopping malls in Japan, but of course the main product category is apparel. In my case, I’ve never pursued fashion but I do like to find and wear something new. For my education background, I actually learned the history of Western art, especially in modern art and impressionism. 

My interest in fashion developed while travelling with my family to Paris when I was younger. During that time, I was interested in learning art but I was also observing how my mother and my grandmother were shopping. Returning to my hometown in Shizuoka prefecture, there aren’t many brand offerings unlike Tokyo, which is a trending destination. But they try to make frequent trips to Tokyo to explore different brands.

I joined Lumine because of the people and the company’s philosophy of creating delight beyond expectations. Lumine was familiar to me as there was a department store near my school.

Tell us what are some of your favourite brands to wear?

I enjoy wearing clothes from Tomorrowland, especially their classic and long-lasting pieces.

What are some of your proudest achievements working in Lumine?

I am proud of our philosophy. Our philosophy is creating ‘delight beyond expectations.’ We also call ourselves a ‘life value presenter’ as we allow our customers to point out new styles. I can align my own beliefs with such concepts. 

To achieve this philosophy, the company is supported by many professionals and we are really focusing on education and training for our employees. Even the part-time employees who are students, attend customer service courses where they take part in role-playing scenarios. 

We also ran a competition where we pick the 15 best employees out of all the Lumine branches in Japan, and they get to visit Singapore which is a nice opportunity to learn about the culture. Just last month, we brought six of our Singapore staff to Japan for a similar exchange.

What are the key lifestyle trends influencing Lumine’s product offerings?

We typically carry a larger selection of Spring and Summer styles. However, during the winter months of December to February, when Japan experiences colder weather, we reduce the quantity of these items available in the Singapore market.

During this time, we will find more local brands to expand the offerings in the store space. 

For example, in Lumine Jakarta, we showcased brands like Suedeson by Kimberly Tandra, Isshu, Nappa Milano, Jan Sober, Ruang Jiwa, Byo and Tam Illi, just to name a few. The vision we have for the Singapore store is to have more cultural exchanges similar to this.