‘FREUDE by BMW’: first pop-up gallery in Tokyo combines fashion, art and car design.

Munich. The opening of a pop-up gallery in the Japanese capital Tokyo sees BMW embark on a new brand presentation phase headlined ‘FREUDE by BMW’. For a limited period of one month, fashion, art and automotive enthusiasts alike have the opportunity to partake in an innovative, luxury brand experience in the city’s Harajuku district. The activities on offer at BMW’s inaugural pop-up gallery in Japan include workshops with artists, the opening of a VIP lounge, and collaborations with fashion labels and creatives from a variety of backgrounds. The overarching goal here is to boost the brand’s presence in the heart of Tokyo and create a community hub for new target groups in the luxury segment.

“Tokyo is a vibrant and bustling city that showcases the spirit of modern Japan,” says Jens Thiemer, Senior Vice President Customer & Brand BMW. “It is a hub for technology, fashion, and pop culture, and is known for its cutting-edge innovations and design. This makes Tokyo the perfect destination for BMW to open the first pop-up within our long-term brand strategy labelled ‘FREUDE by BMW’, creating luxury habitats and unique experiences for the BMW brand and all automotive enthusiasts.”

The pop-up gallery also provides the venue for the first public presentation of the BMW XM (fuel consumption combined: 1.6 – 1.5 litres/100 km [176.6 – 188.3 mpg imp]; electric power consumption combined: 30.1 – 28.9 kWh/100 km; CO₂ emissions combined: 36 – 33 g/km in the WLTP cycle; figures for the NEDC cycle: – ) in Japan. The first high-performance model from BMW M GmbH with an electrified drive system takes centre stage in a pop-up exhibition entitled ‘FREUDE by BMW – CONNECTED THROUGH TIME’ that offers visitors a one-of-a-kind experience with aesthetic highlights from the fields of fashion, art, design and automotive engineering.

This special exhibition was created under the direction of David Fischer – founder of Berlin luxury fashion magazine and culture consulting firm Highsnobiety – and is the fruit of a collaboration between BMW and Tokyo’s cultural trailblazers. It invites visitors to explore innovative forms of luxury, the progressive zeitgeist at work in Tokyo and an intriguing fusion of Japanese and Western-oriented cultures.

The exhibition space’s design was influenced by both the extrovert exterior styling of the BMW XM and the progressive luxury ambience inside its cabin. Plus, Harajuku-based fashion store GR8 – which stocks numerous up-and-coming brands from around the world, ranging from luxury to underground labels – examines the multifaceted design world of the BMW XM from a fashion perspective.

The brainchild of BMW headquarters in Munich and BMW Japan, the innovative brand experience in Harajuku provides the springboard for a series of other luxury brand experiences packaged within the ‘FREUDE by BMW’ strategy. More pop-up galleries will be opened at various locations in Tokyo in the third quarter of 2023 and in 2024.