As a reluctant but self-confessed Japanophile (I’m no fan of anime — I just like the clothing, food and sense of societal order, alright?), I’ve been to the promised land of Nihon more than once.

Every time I go, I drag my wife to the local outpost of BEAMS, wherever we are. Be it Tokyo, Kyoto, or the far reaches of Takamatsu — we’ve seen them all.

More often than not, I don’t even buy anything. Shopping in Japan can be challenging for the taller man.

But with each individual BEAMS store carrying unique stock, they are always worth a mooch around, particularly if you have more than a passing interest in getting dressed.

When Etsuzo Shitara founded BEAMS in Harajuku in 1976, the tiny shop naturally sold collegiate-leaning athletic wear. Men’s Club magazine, Van Jacket and fashion photography phenomenon Take Ivy transformed Japanese men’s fashion in the 1960s, sparking an obsessive focus on American heritage and the preppy style of Ivy League college kids.

BEAMS has since become one of the most well-known labels in Japan, shaping how one of the world’s best dressed nations decks itself out.

The company’s shops today are part showcases for its many, many sub-brands (the Ivy-inspired Beams+ is the most well-known in the West) and part expertly curated multi-brand stores.

Until now, items from the mainline BEAMS range, or the women’s sub-brand BEAMS BOY, have only really been available to non-Japanese customers who book a plane ticket and touch down at Haneda.

However, in February the BEAMS online shop started shipping globally and there are plans for a standalone North American e-commerce site.

This appears to be part of a push to open the label’s huge inventory up to a wider international audience.

In mid-2024, trinkets from the gift-focused BEAMS JAPAN line started cropping up on multi-brand retailer sites in the UK and US for the first time. Pop ups in LA and New York have followed. There are now also rumours of a permanent store in New York, with more international openings potentially in the works.

Will this finally see BEAMS take off as a powerhouse of global fashion?

Part of me hopes it remains in ‘if-you-know-you-know’ territory. But when you combine the brand’s unshakeable ‘cool’ with the design and quality of its clothing, it’s hard not to see BEAMS taking off in a big way.

Is the world’s coolest brand finally going global?