Upgrade your wardrobe with custom clothes featuring the iconic font of a Shinjuku Station legend.

When considering what apparel to pick up as a souvenir from your trip to Tokyo, some people might opt for a classic woodblock-style print design, like The Great Wave Off Kanagawa, some may go for a more natural cherry blossom-style design, while others decide on some stylistic Japanese calligraphy. However, now the Nike Shinjuku store has added another possibility into the mix of your future wardrobe, and it’s brought to you by a security guard at Shinjuku Station, famous for his packing-tape typography.

Shuetsu Sato became a Japanese graphic design legend after he started helping the millions of daily commuters navigate Japan’s infamously confusing station construction, cutting bold, rounded directional signs out of cheap, colorful adhesive tape. His handmade font, known as Shuetsu-tai, won over typography enthusiasts worldwide with its warm charm.

Back in 2016, our team interviewed Mr. Shuetsu and asked him to do a live demonstration for our editorial department, where he crafted a beautiful version of our Japanese site’s name right before our eyes.

▼ You can even watch the process of its creation.

Opened on April 10, the Nike Shinjuku store has made his lettering a part of its identity, after an art director hired him for the job, featuring it both on the exterior digital displays and store logo.

However, it doesn’t stop there, as located on the first floor, the Nike By You station lets visitors personalize blank t-shirts and hoodies with exclusive Shuetsu-tai patches.

All you need to do is:

  • Pick your blank t-shirt or hoodie: a small black t-shirt costs 4,620 yen (US$28.20).
  • Choose your patches: a variety of bold Shuetsu-tai letterings, including the iconic Shinjuku logo (“新宿”) or the Just Do It slogan (“ジャストドゥイット”), are on offer, ranging from 550 yen for a small size to 990 yen for a large.

  • Design and press: lay out your patches anywhere you like on the garment and secure them with tape. Once you check out, the store staff heat-presses your design, often being ready in around 20 minutes if not too busy.

Customization is done on a same-day first-come, first-served reservation system and weekend slots for the Nike By You station can fill up fast, but you can usually walk right in on weekday afternoons without a reservation, although it depends on the time slot. The downside is that you won’t be able to know until you visit the store itself, and you’ll also need to sign up for the free Nike Membership through the Nike App.

To show our support for the designer and long-time friend of the site, Mr. Shuetsu, we decided to get the Shinjuku logo right on the front of the shirt, and “Just Do It” on the upper back, which is beautifully modelled here by our fashion icon Mr. Sato.

While we feel the logos might have been better had they been positioned slightly higher, we are pretty satisfied with the final result.

Next time you are thinking of picking up a trendy souvenir you can wear, you should swing by the Nike Shinjuku store to create your own T-shirt or hoodie that has its design roots based on the nearby labyrinthine Shinjuku Station, born from the hand of one of its security guards who just wanted to help more people find their way.

Store information
Nike Shinjuku / ナイキ新宿
Address: Tokyo-to, Shinjuku-ku, Shinjuku 3-26-6 FF-biru
東京都新宿区新宿3-26-6 FFビル
Open: 11:00 a.m.–10:00 p.m.
Website

Photos ©SoraNews24
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