I’m here to break some hearts; or bubbles. Whatever. I’d been wanting to rip into ALBA ROSA for the longest time and OH EM GEE today is THE DAY. So quick disclaimer because honestly, I’m so excited to talk about this because I see how this brand is still such a highly coveted brand in the community and I just… I mean, not even OG Gyaru could actually afford the brand at the time so they got knock-offs 🤣… I mean if we boil it down to literally just the bare bones of it, ALBA ROSA had absolutely THE WORST luck, marketing team, and THE BEST of all coincidences (to a certain extent) by literally aligning with Japanese youth that were very on top of anything tropical related. And guess what? Despite their legendary status amongst Gyaru? They absolutely HATED IT. Seriously, very few people will actually understand just how much of a kick I’m getting out of this post because #it’saboutdamntime! Alright then, disrespectfully, let’s get started!
Kiko Mizuhara once posted a picture of her in an ALBA ROSA coat for Halloween and reminisced about the nostalgia that her ALBA ROSA pants brought her, and with good reason, it became a hot topic surrounding the nostalgia factor that it brought many current and former Gyaru. So just to cover our bases: ALBA ROSA is a brand that took the world by storm in the 1990s, the literal heyday of Gal fashion. After the sudden closure of all stores and the development of licenses, the brand is still alive and well, although it does not sell original products at present. Of course, by now we know that many Gal brands have disappeared with the decline of the boom, but not ALBA ROSA. Nope, they’re still alive. Why? Let’s talk about the brand’s history.
ALBA ROSA was started in 1975 by Tamotsu Kato, the first president of the company. The brand name means “pink dawn” in Italian. It was named after the nickname of an Italian woman who was an acquaintance of the president that also happened to be an airline flight attendant. Many people associate Hawaii with the iconic pink hibiscus logo, but the roots of the brand were not in Hawaii. There were 5 members at the beginning of the brand; The designers visited the Côte d’Azur and incorporated those same local styles into their designs.
According to Rumi Kato, representative of the brand development at that time, “It was a major premise to add value to the brand and sell it, and I didn’t do what others were doing at the time. It would be nice if 200 out of 10 million people were fans, and I want to expand sales.” The products are basically made in Japan with the aim of creating high-quality products through methods such as hand silk screen printing and original material development.
The wholesale business has been the main type of business for about 20 years since the brand was established. At that time, the main customer was actually meJane, and the customer base was wide ranging from the 20s to the 40s because there wasn’t a target market in particular at the time. At first, there were no other brands offering resort casual fashion, and because of that, it was often mistaken for an overseas brand.
Right when the bubble economy began back in 1985, ALBA ROSA opened its first store: Yokohama Sotetsu Joinus Store. In 1999, a menswear line was created. From 1998 up to early 2000 was when ALBA ROSA sold the most due to the Gyaru boom. Gyaru magazines such as EGG in 1995 and Ranzuki in 1998 were launched, and the Gyaru Boom was born, with emerging Gyaru substyles such as Ganguro, Yamanba, Manba and Kogyaru (ofc).
ALBA ROSA was supported as a brand admired by many Gals by wearing this resort fashion as streetwear, which had previously been too exposed to wear on the streets of Japan. It is said that the image of “ALBAROSA is synonymous to a Gyaru brand” was created in ways that the brand did not intend, such as special features and projects being actively organized in magazines without the brand’s permission.
During the same time that the Gyaru boom is practically responsible for singlehandedly hyping up ALBA ROSA into legendary status against the brand team’s will, there are many counterfeit products on the market. The company had about 70 directly managed stores and wholesale stores, but around 1999 it began cracking down on counterfeit products, and eventually about 160 stores were confirmed to be selling these counterfeit products. The number of stores that were found was more than double the number of regular stores, so the actual number was probably even higher (especially because one could also find the knock-offs in rural areas, not just in major cities).
In 2003, sales peaked at 441% compared to 1990. The brand was literally doing great, better than great! However, all stores were closed in 2005 in order to reset the image that was far from the original concept of the brand. Then in 2006, ALBA ROSA Japan started selling products as a licensee of the ALBA ROSA brand, rebranding from resort fashion to city fashion. Efforts were made to eradicate the image of the Gyaru brand by using Rika as the image model and Yumie Kazama as the stylist (and they failed miserably LOL). ALBA ROSA Japan terminated the license agreement in 2012, and it wasn’t until 2014 that another company was licensed.
In March 2017, the multi-purpose space “ALBA ROSA LAB” was opened on the first floor of the Alba Rosa Building in Harajuku. Based on her experience so far, CEO Rumi Kato said, “It’s difficult to control customers. As a means to embody the lifestyle and concept proposed by the brand, we want to reach out to consumers through one thing rather than another.” The plan then was to disseminate things as a base for fun lifestyles connected to the sea and resorts, such as SUP yoga and experience events in collaboration with bodyboarders.
If we don’t clarify the brand message, we can’t wipe out the previous image.