BEAMS ties its 50th anniversary to Tokyo Game Show's 30th with a retail collection
BEAMS is putting its 50th-anniversary programme to work at Japan's biggest gaming trade show, selling a seven-publisher character collection at two of its own stores and on the Tokyo Game Show floor itself — a mainstream apparel retailer buying directly into a captive trade-show audience.
BEAMS launched a collection called GAME ARTeee COLLECTION on 15 September under its BEAMS Mangart line, marking both the retailer's 50th anniversary and the 30th edition of Tokyo Game Show, the company said. Seven game publishers — Capcom, Koei Tecmo Games, Konami, Sega, Square Enix, Sony Interactive Entertainment and Bandai Namco Entertainment — each contributed a character for a set of T-shirts, priced at ¥6,000 before tax (¥4,500 for kids' sizes), alongside a pre-order-only "all-star" shirt featuring all seven.
The collection is being sold at BEAMS Culture Art Takanawa, BEAMS Heart LaLaport Tokyo Bay and BEAMS' online shop, where it stays on sale through the end of December, according to the company. A limited run is also being sold directly on the Tokyo Game Show floor, at the Family Game Park area of Makuhari Messe, during the show's run from 17 to 21 September — and BEAMS separately designed around 3,000 staff uniforms for the event, in three colourways built around artwork by illustrator Zashikiwarashi.
Selling apparel on a trade-show floor is a small move, but a deliberate one: rather than treat Tokyo Game Show as a marketing backdrop, BEAMS is using its own anniversary as the reason to become a vendor inside the event, not just a company that makes a themed T-shirt. For a select-shop retailer whose core business is edited fashion, that is a direct bet that a gaming audience will buy apparel on-site — one other mainstream retailers eyeing Japan's trade-show calendar are likely to watch.