GC icons Alfred’s Apartment have designed an exclusive collection to take their brand to the northern hemisphere for the very first time.
From humble beginnings on the Gold Coast through to sold out pop-ups in Melbourne, Auckland, and now, Tokyo, Alfred’s Apartment are on a mission to deliver their signature GC style around the world. We first partnered with the team back in 2019, supplying their diner with our Allpress Espresso Blend. Since then, we’ve backed them and continued to watch them go from strength to strength.
For us, it’s the magic that happens when we come together over a cup of coffee, and this collection celebrates exactly that. Rise and shine Allpress coffee community, this drop is for you.
We sat down with Alfred’s Apartment founder, Ed Hatcher, and our Allpress Japan GM, Seita Shiga, for a brief catchup on opening night in Tokyo.
AP: Ed, you’ve now got multiple successful pop-ups on your resume back home and in NZ. Why did you want to take Alfred's to Japan?
Ed: The idea behind our Japan popup is that regardless of where you are in the world, you start the morning with coffee. In Japan they take sooo much pride in all the little details around coffee.
Our whole business is built around creating a place to hang out and meet people over coffee, so Japan made a lot of sense.
AP: Keep ya movin in the mornin – what’s the inspiration behind the collection for Japan?
Ed: We wanted to show this idea about our morning coffee routine using Australian imagery, and bringing some of this to Japan.
AP: Seita, as Aussies we have a great sense of respect for the Japanese lifestyle and business culture; all the best things come out of Japan. What does the collaboration mean for you and the Tokyo team?
Seita: When we revisit one of the Allpress mantras, there’s one that reads “We exist to unite independent thinkers, question convention and position ourselves against the ordinary”.
Our family of coffee brands brings our vision to life for coffee drinkers around the world. Of course, this holds true to our Japanese entity too. During the COVID restrictions, we were unable to position ourselves that much against the ordinary nor bring our vision to life for about 3~4 years. So when Ed offered to help us redo so, there was no better partner. And that great sense of respect is a two-way street. The best part of it was that the event was so amazingly muti-cultural. Ed and the team knew exactly what they were doing!
Initially dropping exclusively for the Tokyo popup, you can now shop the collection of Trusted Tees, OG hats, mugs, waffle long sleeves shirts and hoodies at our roastery cafés in Collingwood, Zetland, Byron Bay and Brisbane. A few select pieces are also available through our online stores.
Move fast.
