Tatty Devine pops up in Tokyo!

You might have spotted a slight change of scenery in Tatty Devine co-founder Harriet's latest Instagram posts. Our Creative Director had headed off to Tokyo to kick off Tatty Devine's 15th birthday celebrations in style with a very special pop up. Catch up with all the action and find out what Harriet got up to in Japan in her round up blog now: "Tatty Devine and Japan have always had a bit of a love affair.  From the very first time Rosie and I started to make things, we've sold our jewellery there. In the beginning, there were Crisp Packet Necklaces and Budgie Brooches and they were met with a keen sense of appreciation that the Japanese are famous for. It seemed only fitting to return there as we begin our 15th birthday celebrations. Since the start of the year, we have been working closely with our friends there to prepare for our first ever proper pop up shop in Japan! We chose to host the pop up shop in the most amazing department store in Tokyo: Laforet.  It 's right in the heart of Harajuku, the birth place of all things fashion (along with East London!)  It all began with an epic set up. I left London on Monday lunchtime, arrived in Tokyo mid morning Tuesday and started to set up the shop that night at 9pm.  It was so much fun watching it all come together that I hardly noticed how jet lagged I was! We made lots of laser cut Perspex shapes in the London studio to display and I even brought a few famous faces with me to model the Name Necklaces...! We were finally finished at 2.30am and Team Tatty Japan all headed off for some well earned Katsu and cold beers. No lie in for us, though! The next morning, we were ready and waiting to welcome eager customers to the shop. The pop up was right in the entrance hall of Laforet - probably the most prominent shopping spot in all of Tokyo! It was super busy with all kinds of shoppers. I saw some truly inspiring new looks going on and I was pleased to see a fair few people rocking some brilliant looks with Tatty Devine jewellery on too. I was on the stand everyday to meet our Japanese fans. It was so exciting to see everybody! Some of the fans I met had really amazing collections with pieces that even I haven't seen for years. Super rare Tatty alert! On the opening day of the shop, I was interviewed by Vogue Japan.  They visited the pop up, took lots of pictures and asked me all about Perspex and pop culture. They even wanted to see what I had in my bag - luckily I had taken the flight socks out! Oh, the glamour... You can read the interview here. On Wednesday night, I went on an adventure and did some exploring... Isn't it beautiful? Love this giant lantern, too! Square watermelon, anyone? I found lots of plastic treasures... ... lots and lots! I also visited an Onsen, which is a Japanese hot spring bath. There were so many different kinds of hot spring water baths, sauna, steam and a beautiful foot bath, which is like a garden you walk around in with lots of little stones set into the floor. It's a bit like acupressure.  It was amazing and I think I am now addicted! Someone please open one in London! I was really hoping all the steam would help me sleep but I still couldn't sleep until 5am. Not sure if it was the jet lag or just how excited I get in Japan. The pop up shop was doing really well and by Thursday, we had already sold out of several pieces. The Team Tatty shop girls were amazing! It was great to have them as my Japanese is pretty limited to 'kawaii', 'cho sugoi' and a few other niceties! It was SO hot in Japan and it was lovely to just hang out at the pop up - the air conditioning was a joy.   That night I went on another adventure with some dear friends to amazing secret restaurant, followed by a little late night cocktail action at the top of the Tokyo Hyatt Park Hotel, which is the bar in Lost In Translation.  I was a little bit excited - gotta love Bill Murray! It was probably about 1am when we left there to go home but my body was still running in London time, so when I got back to Nakameguro, I had a late night shopping adventure to the 24hrs crazy shopping heaven that is Don Quiote. They sell everything from rice crackers to fancy dress outfits, so it's a bit like a supermarket, Superdrug, and the Argos catalogue all rolled into one. I love it and eventually left at 3am with lots of treats! Before the pop up shop opened on Friday, I found the local outdoor pool and went for a swim. It was so sunny, I couldn't resist. Isn't it amazing?  It was another busy day at Laforet and everyone was very excited as we prepared for a seriously fun evening. A real life London bus came to pick up myself and 20 amazing buyers and press to do a tour of Tokyo whilst making our own Bunting Necklaces! It was about as much fun as is humanly possible on a bus. The old Routemaster looked so cool and it was so amazing to see it all decked out inside with the same bunting as we used on our bus on Regent Street not so long ago. We even had our very own bus barman who brought us cheeky little jewellery making beers! It was so nice to see some familiar faces finding out how skilful the Team Tatty girls are by putting together their own necklace by hand. The workshop could sometimes be a bit tricky, but I guess we don't usually host normal jewellery making workshops going along on a bus, at night, in the dark, after a few beers! We drove on a round trip to Tokyo Tower, where we all got off and posed for photos. It was my first visit to Tokyo Tower and it was fun to fit in a bit of sightseeing with the workshop! I had SO much fun and totally LOVED it. I think everyone else did too! Saturday brought another busy shopping day at Laforet and lots more happy faces of customers who came to meet me. In the evening, a friend showed me around Koenji AKA 'Japanese Hackney' where he lives now. It was super cool peeking in all the little up-cycled vintage clothes shops down cute little shopping streets. Oh, and we had sushi delivered to us on a boat and finished later on with pudding in a tree house - love Japan! On Sunday morning, I headed along to an interview and photo shoot with the amazing team at Nylon Japan and super famous actress Riisa Naka. It was really fun and Riisa was so lovely!  After the pop up shop closed for the last time on Monday, all of Team Tatty Japan and our agent Mach55 went to party! The night began with a totally amazing dinner on a boat with saki, tempura and stunning views of Tokyo from the harbour. "It was super exciting and so much fun to be with all the team together. When eventually got back on dry land, we all piled in a cab and went to the cutest little 1970's style bar I have ever been in. Tequila and karaoke on repeat... Best night ever! Thank you, team Mach55, you were truly fantastic! So much hard work and careful planning made my trip to Tokyo so incredibly perfect! Japan rules... can't wait for the next visit! Love, Harriet xxx " Thanks for giving us a behind the scenes peek at your trip, Harriet. Did you visit our pop up? Let us know in the comments below and tweet your photos, too!

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