A Conversation with President Ryo Ishikawa of Ceno, Taking on the World with #FR2

Ceno Company., Ltd. founded an entire era of fashion with its Shibuya-style men’s fashion brand Vanquish. The company is now quickly gathering attention for its #FR2 brand both in Japan and abroad through the use of Instagram. Influencers with millions of followers are posting photos of #FR2 products and shops, creating a never-ending cycle of increased recognition among consumers. When Ceno started #FR2, it was “not worried about the reception in Japan,” and the brand is now wildly popular in Japan as a reverse-import. One secret behind this popularity is the deliberately limited supply of products, conscious of secondary distribution. We spoke to President Ryo Ishikawa.

Tourist Spots are Golden

When I first started #FR2, I thought, “I don’t even need to sell to Japanese people.” That is why I focused on Instagram. Everyone overseas was using it at the time, so I thought Instagram would be the best medium to get our message out to the world. While there are many fashion brands using Instagram today, we had very little competition at the time

We are attracting more customers both within Japan and abroad, but we have many more customers overseas. As a principle, I purposely limit the supply in Japan to ensure there is “never enough.” If people cannot purchase such popular products, it pushes up the price of those products on Mercari and Yahoo Auctions!, making people want them even more. We do not easily increase production of poplar items, and generally sell all our products with the intention of selling out. That is why we can sell products without relying on sales.

Consumers these days, especially young people, are all looking at Instagram. They all want the same things as others in their generation, regardless of country or region. C-to-C (consumer-to-consumer market services) is now their entry to shopping.

Ryo Ishikawa, President of Ceno Company., Ltd.

Young people will buy a product at a 70 to 80% discount in primary distribution, and then sell it over Mercari or Yahoo Auctions! (famous consumer-to-consumer market services) for dirt cheap. In that case, if they buy a somewhat expensive item at full price, and can then sell it for a 50% discount, in the end they have still paid only half price. That is how young people shop these days. They do not feel any stress at all over selling.

There is no doubt that secondary distribution will become even more popular in Japan. Brands that are continuously having sales in primary distribution have no price in secondary distribution. That means those brands will be finished. I think it is a planned measure, but I often see products launched just the week before being sold on discount. This is a betrayal to the fans, and that brand has no chance of taking root.

Never Give Enough

In the last year, I have seen many derived businesses specializing in local specialty and souvenir goods you can only buy in one region of Japan. That is somewhat the same as the old-fashioned thinking, “If my brand takes off, I’ll open a shop in the big city,” so I don’t do it. #FR2 is only in places with lots of foreigners, and our shops are lined with products you cannot buy online, that’s why they have value. People buy our products in the same way they buy travel souvenirs. That is why I consider us a tourism business, and put a kanji (Chinese character) in our shop name. I also made sure elements of Japanese wa can be found in the logo of our sign.

I don’t want to open shops in stylish places, I want to be in efficient locations with few rivals and many foreigners. Having a shop is important, but I’m fine for it to only be a few meters in size.

Our Harajuku, Naha and Kanazawa shops have all succeeded, and I am now confident that I can succeed in tourist areas around the world. If I could, I would open a shop at the base of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

It has been the same since my Vanquish days, I am always building the brand and products with a focus on marketing. I am always alert to how the world is changing and what consumers are interested in. Sensing the future, and making something unprecedented, that’s what lets me sell. That is the summation of my style.

Going forward, I think fashion brand creators will have to decide between producing what they love and pursuing a niche market, or studying consumers to create products that sell. People who say, “I can’t sell,” these days are simply being precious. If you really want to sell, you have to do the unpretentious work of carefully studying the customers.

Content is Key

When it comes to platform businesses, it’s impossible to beat the early movers. I think Japan can only make it globally in the content business. That is why it’s important to find value in ourselves that exists nowhere else.

I read fashion news every day, but I feel like everyone is just saying the same thing, such as, “Why don’t we use AI (artificial intelligence)?” I always think you stand out much more if you go against the times, and can win by doing something that has no prior example.

It depends on the stage of the company, but if a company is not selling, I think they have to focus on creating contents instead of processes. You have to throw yourself into researching what consumers want, and spend money on research. Customers do not want processes. I see an enormous future in #FR2 as a content medium. I want to make it the most popular brand in the Asian region.