While in Tokyo last year for the opening of INTERSECT, I also took the opportunity to visit two of the city’s Lexus showrooms, the Lexus Gallery Takanawa and the Lexus International Gallery Aoyama.
Both showrooms are amazing in their attention to detail and level of attentiveness, and both have displays dedicated to the Lexus L-Select program, the Japan-only custom interior package for the flagship LS sedan.
To illustrate possible combinations, the L-Select program has six “presets” — here are the four that I saw.
Japanese Modern
The white-dyed bird’s eye maple in the Japanese Modern combination is beautiful, and the red carpeting brings a serious splash of color to the elegant interior.
See more information on the Japanese Modern L-Select package
Royal Therapy
Orange in an LS is a weird fit, but Royal Therapy balances it with a light shade of grey. The feather pattern in the wood is something else.
See more information on the Royal Therapy L-Select package
Wild Beauty
As the only LS F SPORT example, the Wild Beauty combination is rather understated despite its purple leather.
See more information on the Wild Beauty L-Select package
Escape Journey
The only L-Select at the Lexus International Gallery Aoyama, the Escape Journey combination is nautical in theory and completely unbelievable in reality — what a crazy way to color an LS.
See more information on the Escape Journey L-Select package
There was also a more general display showing all the possible color combinations, here’s some photos:
Despite some color combinations that my North American sensibility found jarring, L-Select is an amazing program that bumps up the prestige level of the Lexus flagship sedan.
Owner personalization is arguably one of the biggest trends in the luxury automotive market, and will only be more important moving forward. There are certainly some logistical issues with bringing the L-Select program to markets outside of Japan, but Lexus managed to pull off something even more complex with the LFA.
Is there a global market for this level of customization for LS buyers? What do you think?
Special thanks to everyone at the Takanawa & Aoyama galleries in Japan, and to my hosts at Lexus International for accompanying me on my tour.
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