The Armoury names Kentaro Nakagomi creative director as Cho pivots to arcades

The Armoury has named Kentaro Nakagomi, founder and creative director of the Japanese outerwear label Coherence, as its new creative director. He succeeds Mark Cho in the role as the cofounder turns his attention to a second career building retail arcades in Asia.

Nakagomi's debut collection for the four-unit menswear retailer, which has locations in New York and Hong Kong, will be unveiled in New York on 21 October. Cho said the new hire worked directly with him and the design team on the spring collection, which was already in progress when he joined.

"I was his first stockist," Cho said of Nakagomi, adding that he makes "beautiful overcoats" which he will keep designing despite joining The Armoury. Coherence is part of the Japanese fashion conglomerate Abahouse International.

Cho had held the creative director post for The Armoury's in-house brand, which accounts for 80 percent of the company's sales. He founded The Armoury in Hong Kong in 2010 with Alan See, focusing on classic and bespoke menswear, and said he knew he needed some help.

The appointment follows a period of restructuring for Cho. He was previously co-owner of Drake's, the London-based haberdashery brand, but sold that to Danish billionaire Anders Holch Povlsen of Bestseller fame at the end of last year, which let him focus more squarely on his other businesses.

The proceeds found a direct home. Cho acquired Ring Jacket, The Armoury's largest vendor, after its owner Kunichi Fukushima, son of the founder, contemplated retirement with no succession plan in place. The source does not give the price of either deal.

"We were their number-two client," Cho said. "They were always interested in me being their successor. So I got a nice offer for Drake's and moved that into Ring Jacket." The Osaka tailoring brand was founded in 1954 and began by replicating Ivy League style.

What Pedder Arcade became

The arcade strategy began during the pandemic, when Cho was spending most of his time in Hong Kong and thinking about the future. The historic Pedder building that housed his store was struggling, so he approached the landlord about creating a European-style shopping arcade.

Six months of discussion secured the landlord's agreement, and the result is Pedder Arcade: six shops, a bar and a coffee shop aimed mainly at men, on the fifth floor of the city's Pedder Building. Cho described himself as the "creative director of the property," overseeing the public spaces and tenant mix.

"We gutted the floor," he said, adding that it was "pretty gnarly" for the first year and a half. "I got every friend I could find and had them do pop-ups." Eventually he found six complementary retailers to take permanent space.

Besides The Armoury, the arcade hosts Lok Man Rare Books, an antiquarian bookseller; Kaneko Optical, a Japanese brand founded in 1958 that opened its first Hong Kong flagship; Phillips Perpetual, the auction house's watch arm; The Whisky Library, which sells valuable spirits; and a Davidoff of Geneva cigar lounge and shop.

"The project has gotten a lot of attention globally," Cho said, and the space has been a success since opening. "My flagship is there and it does better than it did at the best mall in the city, at one-third of the rent." The Armoury closed its Landmark Central mall store and consolidated into Pedder.

The Tokyo project and a possible New York one

On the strength of the Hong Kong result, Cho has begun a similar project in Tokyo, though it will most likely take three years to finish. The site comprises three adjacent buildings with several existing tenants whose leases must expire first.

Cho already has one commitment for the Tokyo space from Sigma, a family-owned maker of cameras and equipment, and he is considering moving Ring Jacket there too. Ring Jacket has a long history in Tokyo, though it was founded in Osaka.

Asked whether he might seek a New York project to replicate Pedder Arcade, Cho said a landlord on the Upper East Side had approached him, but the space was too big and "it just didn't feel right." He did not rule it out: never say never.

"The concept is more fun when it's not that big," he said. If the right opportunity presents itself, he might reconsider, and the Upper East Side offer shows landlords are now coming to him.

The Armoury's creative handover and Cho's property ventures run in parallel. Nakagomi's collection in New York on 21 October is the first test of the new design leadership, while the Tokyo arcade is a three-year build.

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Images: The Armoury