Japanese mall Lumine opened its doors yesterday, welcoming shoppers to its 10,000 sq ft space at Clarke Quay Central.

Shortly after the store opened at 11am, it saw a healthy crowd of shoppers, many with young children, including numerous Japanese fans of Lumine living and working here.

One of the first shoppers was 38-year-old housewife Eiko Takeda, who moved to Singapore from Tokyo four months ago. The Lumine fan had her husband, 41-year-old trader Rui Takeda, and their five-year-old son in tow.

"I read about Lumine opening here on the Internet," she said. "I'm very excited. The things here are very cute. They have a lot of my favourite brands - Tomorrowland, Fray I.D. and Mila Owen."

The Singapore outpost marks Lumine's first store outside of Japan, where it has 15 outlets, four of which are at Tokyo's Shinjuku station.

Lumine Singapore carries 20 Japanese clothing and accessory brands, 17 of which are new to Singapore such as Tomorrowland, Iena, Spick & Span and Mila Owen.

Items in the store have been curated to suit Singaporean women and the local climate.

There is also an area called Lumine Lab, created as a test bed for experimental brands. The first offerings are influencer-based Japanese brands including Emoda, Murua and Mercuryduo.

In a first for Lumine, the store also has its own cafe, where seating areas are equipped with USB charging points. The cafe serves beverages and fruit parfaits.

Lumine Singapore managing director Naokazu Kozakai feels that the store has a lot to offer Singaporeans. "We sensed a gap in Singapore's retail market, with its increasingly homogeneous tenants and players in the retail scene, and Lumine Singapore hopes to fill this gap with unique offerings," he said.

"Our business is totally different from others because we have brought in 20 Japanese brands. There is a very strong point of differentiation," he added.

In the future, Lumine hopes to carry local brands, too. Mr Kozakai said that "we have communicated with Singaporean brands as well, and already have a strong connection to them".

On opening weekend, which extends to today, shoppers get a 20 per cent discount on wearable fashion items except those from eyewear brand Zoff, which is offering a 30 per cent discount with a minimum purchase of $300.

Correction note: This article has been updated to accurately spell Fray I.D. We are sorry for the error.