Gunze Limited (グンゼ株式会社, Gunze Kabushiki Kaisha) is a Japanese clothing brand with its registered head office in Ayabe, Kyoto Prefecture, its Osaka head office, and a Tokyo office.[1] It was established on August 10, 1896,[2] by Tsurukichi Hatano, and was originally known as Gunze Silk Manufacturing Co., Ltd. .[3]

Gunze headquarters in Ayabe, Kyoto Prefecture

The company started the Gunze Blue-Mountain Underwear brand in association with Daiei in 1962, and this brand was used for all sexes before the introduction of the Christie brand for women in 1968. In a three-year period from 1962 the brand made up 6 percent of Daiei's turnover of underwear.[4] It began selling its clothing in Thailand in 2000.[5]

The company's flagship outlet is in Harajuku.[6]

References edit

  1. ^ "Business Locations". Gunze. Retrieved 2021-07-04. Osaka Head Office HERBIS OSAKA Office Tower, 2-5-25, Umeda, Kita-ku, Osaka 530-0001, Japan [...] Registered Head Office 1 Zeze, Aono-cho, Ayabe, Kyoto 623-8511, Japan [...] Tokyo Office Gunze Nihonbashi Bldg., 2-10-4 Nihonbashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 103-0027, Japan
  2. ^ "Outline." Gunze. Retrieved on October 10, 2017.
  3. ^ "GUNZE History." Gunze. Retrieved on October 10, 2017.
  4. ^ Usui, Kazuo. Marketing and Consumption in Modern Japan. Routledge, March 5, 2014. ISBN 1134350740, 9781134350742. p. 12.
  5. ^ "Japanese State-of-the-Art Textiles, 2000." JTN Monthly - Issues 542-553. Osaka Senken Limited, 2000. p. 29 (View #1, Google search result view)
  6. ^ Cole, Shaun. The Story of Men's Underwear. Parkstone International, May 8, 2012. ISBN 1780428820, 9781780428826. p. 123. "The Japanese, Osaka based underwear company Gunze,[...] in the flagship store opened in the fashionable Harijuku [sic] area of Tokyo in 2010."

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