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On 5 September, Vogue Business hosted an event during Tokyo Fashion Week in partnership with the Saudi Fashion Commission, focusing on opportunities for Japanese investors in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The event, the first of its kind in Tokyo, celebrated the launch of the State of Fashion in Saudi Arabia 2025 report, which offers a comprehensive view of investment opportunities and growth in the sector. The agenda featured several leading experts from Saudi Arabia’s fashion industry, as well as figures from the Ministry of Investment and the Cultural Development Fund. Hosted by Vogue Business head of advisory and custom insights Anusha Couttigane, the ‘Future Threads: Image, Investment and Innovation’ summit took place at the iconic Trunk Hotel in the trendy Cat Street district of Shibuya. Alongside government officials from Saudi Arabia, the varied agenda featured executives from Acne Studios, Sotheby’s, McLaren and private equity firm L Catterton, as well as a keynote interview with Davide Sesia, executive VP of SogoSeibu Co, Japan’s leading luxury retail business.
Burak Çakmak, CEO of the Saudi Fashion Commission, kicked off by outlining his vision for the agenda: “We want to attract investment that fuels growth across the entire fashion value chain in the country. We want to promote Saudi fashion globally, highlighting the diversity of talent from traditional craftsmanship to cutting-edge contemporary designs, as well as strengthening partnerships that connect Saudi creativity with international expertise, ensuring that growth is both sustainable and focused on the future.” Çakmak went on to highlight the youthful characteristics of Saudi Arabia, where over 70 per cent of the population is under 35 and where over 55 per cent of the fashion workforce is made up of women.
In the following session, Sahar Albahkali, investment attraction manager at the Saudi Fashion Commission, presented key findings from the Saudi State of Fashion 2025 report, an annual study that offers vital data and insights for business leaders and investors seeking to understand growth opportunities in the market. The report reveals that the fashion industry is expected to contribute 2.6 per cent of GDP to Saudi Arabia in 2025, while also creating 340,000 jobs. Last year, the Saudi fashion market was valued at $32 billion and is expected to reach $40 billion by 2029, with 15 per cent ($6 billion) driven by luxury fashion alone. In honour of the occasion, the commission also produced a special manga edition of the report, developed in partnership with Manga Productions. Uniquely designed for Japanese audiences, the manga publication narrates the vision for the Saudi fashion market in a striking visual format.
Albahkali spoke to the behaviours and attitudes driving demand, noting the similarities between Saudi and Japan. “As you know, Japanese companies and Japanese people have a long tradition of valuing quality, precision and also craftsmanship above all. It’s very similar to what we see in Saudi Arabia as people want products that last and reflect good quality,” she said. “So in many ways, we share the same foundations.” This was echoed by Ammar Bogari, general manager of strategy at the Saudi Fashion Commission: “The survey results showed the number one Saudi consumer preference driving purchasing is quality. This was interesting to me because it is also very linked to Japanese culture. The word monozukuri, which I learnt today, is about the philosophy of quality and discipline when making things. I think that Saudi consumers have similar values to the Japanese. They appreciate quality. They appreciate craftsmanship.”
Breaking into the market
Then, Anusha Couttigane, who leads research and insights at Vogue Business, chaired a panel discussion on global brands and how they have established a presence in new markets, as well as legacy businesses and how they are adapting to meet the needs of affluent consumers in the age of innovation. Charlotte Chang, principal of global opportunities at L Catterton, highlighted culture as the common thread in driving growth. “Step one is actually to make sure that we have the right management team in place in the market, so you have the right leaders who can help navigate the cultural nuances… and we can help them ensure that the zeitgeist is captured,” she said.
Meanwhile, Jessica Gia Chau, head of wholesale for Asia-Pacific at Acne Studios, discussed how the direction of cultural influence is changing. “We’ve been very used traditionally to seeing European brands exporting cultural capital from the West to the East. And I think what we see today as a brand is that this direction is shifting back,” she said. “So we can talk, for instance, about K-pop influencing global fashion collaboration… or even closer to home, Japanese minimalism really influencing a lot of different collections.”
McLaren head of Japan Yoshi Masamoto described the unique heritage of the supercar brand, explaining that customer engagement is dependent on creating a feeling of excitement as much as a great product. “What makes McLaren so distinctive is our relentless pursuit for innovation, such as lightweight technology and carbon fibre technology,” Masamoto said. “Our car can function as if it’s the extension of your body to create a unity between the driver and the machine. It’s a perfect combination.”
The conversation shifted to the importance of having a physical presence in new markets and the power of real-life spaces in an increasingly digital world. Hanae Yamawaki, deputy director of business development at Sotheby’s, explained how the company’s new home in Hong Kong, which functions as both a showroom and a retail space, is helping to remove barriers and welcome a new class of luxury clients. “Auction houses tend to look like we’re only selling super expensive stuff, and it’s hard to step in. But the first step is really easy. I went to the maison space for the first time actually in March and you don’t even realise that you’re going into Sotheby’s,” Yamawaki said. “You see the bright space with auction previews; you see these private selling exhibitions; and next to it, you see jewellery and watches and handbags that you can just buy like in a retail store.” The company has plans to open additional spaces in Paris and New York, too.
How to do business
In the second panel discussion, leaders from Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Investment and the Cultural Development Fund offered delegates a step-by-step overview of how to begin doing business in the region. Rasha Almasuod, director of tourism and entertainment at the Ministry of Investment, set the scene: “From an investment perspective, culture, arts, fashion and the creative industries are an integral part of Vision 2030, representing a sector with high growth and high global competitiveness. The global creative economy is valued at about $2 trillion and the Kingdom is positioning itself to capture a portion of that.”
Razan Albabtain, director of strategy and impact assessment at the Cultural Development Fund, spoke about how the organisation navigates risk in an unpredictable sector, saying that traditional banks are sometimes reluctant to invest in businesses that depend on cultural collateral. “We accept that risk, we know that risk — and we design our products and services taking that risk into consideration, because we’re trying to become the financial enabler for the sector,” he said. Abdulaziz Alsaid, joining from Merak Capital, expanded on this, speaking about the importance of both public sector and private sector investment, and the value of these partnerships in helping startups professionalise quickly, develop strong financial reporting structures and growth plans to make them viable for acquisition or IPOs as part of the exit strategies of early investors.
For Hala Albassam, director of investments and partnership at the Saudi Fashion Commission, one of the biggest benefits of the Saudi strategy is its Fashion Future platform, a transparent hub for investors, connecting them to all the resources they need across different departments. This removes layers of bureaucracy that investors often encounter in more mature markets. “Fashion Future is meant to be like Bloomberg for fashion investors,” Albassam said. “We tailor incentives depending on the activity of the investor. We work closely with our partner, the Ministry of Investment, in developing these opportunities, designing the journey for the investor, because each investor will require different needs… So as the Fashion Commission, we play the role of matchmaker.”
Reimagining Japanese retail
To close the event, Couttigane sat down with Sesia of SogoSeibu Co, one of Japan’s most respected retail establishments. The legacy company, which runs the Sogo and Seibu department store chains, was recently acquired by Fortress Investment Group, an American investment management firm. Off the back of the acquisition, Sesia, a luxury retail veteran hailing from Prada Group and Benetton, spoke candidly about some of the challenges in leading change amid an industry steeped in tradition.
“The historical criterion for the Japanese department store is very simple: your brand has been here on this floor for the last 10 years, you will be here almost forever,” he said. But Sesia is opting for a different approach. “We understood what the market was telling us in terms of placing the different brands and placing the different categories inside the department store. For instance, the fifth floor is completely devoted to jewellery and watches. Jewellery and watches in the other department stores are mixed with fashion and accessories. We wanted to have only one floor dedicated to those categories.”
He also spoke about how the redesign of the company’s iconic Ikebukuro flagship Seibu store is empowering brands by giving them multi-category, branded spaces. “Ikebukuro Seibu has the chance to offer a completely different shopping experience, because you enter inside the department store but you also enter inside the big area belonging to each brand, where you can get the perfect shopping experience not from the department store, but from the brand itself,” he explained.
When asked how Sesia convinced industry leaders to adopt a new business plan, he said: “It’s not true that very traditional people do not understand; people understand if you have good arguments… For Ikebukuro Seibu, before everyone inside the company was convinced about a new model, I started to convince the brands, and with the positive attitude coming from all the luxury brands, the company itself was convinced by the plan.” In what was a provocative session, some of the misconceptions about business dealings in Japan were not only demystified, but opportunities for global growth and investment were laid on the table. Ultimately, success is unlocked when calculated risk is coupled with bold leadership.
