Playful Design From Tokyo Through a Global Lens

Part of our selection since the store opened, Niche has firmly cemented itself as a customer and staff favorite, while staying relatively under the radar outside of Japan. Takumi Oomura founded the company in 2007 after a fifteen-year career at Nepenthes where he designed their “Purple Label” line.

After leaving Nepenthes, he traveled to South America for the first time; his visit to Argentina was an eye-opening experience. The visual diversity of the country, gaucho culture and tango music resonated with Oomura. In the traditional gaucho garments of the Pampas, colorful landscapes of Patagonia, and the small flower vendors punctuating nearly every block of Buenos Aires, he found a mix of elements that he wanted to translate to a collection. These flower vendors inspired the flower patterned shirts that are part of every Niche collection, with unusual details like buttons embedding real flowers from Buenos Aires.

Oomura continues to visit South America several times a year and still draws inspiration from local cultural elements, which he mixes with traditional military garments and fabrics, workwear details and Japanese fabrics to achieve a thoughtful balance of elements. The result is a group of clothes with a rich variety of textures and patterns, most of which are made in Japan, with some pieces especially made for Niche by producers in Latin America, India, and the United States.