Let’s talk about something happy! Bright! Colorful! Unique! Have YOU been to Vermeerist yet? … I want to bring everyone’s attention to Meiji Dori in Harajuku, where the boutique BEAMS owns a block of shops ranging from a music store to a Tokyo “culture souvenir” shop to International Beams Gallery, a high-end store. Before, you could ignore those and instead steal away to a private 2nd floor boutique to find Vermeerist. Unfortunately, it was closed last year, but instead of shuttering it forever, it has its own special space inside International Gallery now ( a relief it’s still running but I’m totally bummed the boutique closed though T_T) .
This is a special little space, founded by Beams veterans and wife-husband team Tomoko Inuzuka and Katsuhiro in 2003 and the two of them run the entire Vermeerist operation in tandem-all the way down to buying and assisting with sales in the store. The couple is known among the industry for being quite the dressers. Tomoko, for her unique, colorful style that is part retro, part cartoon with bowtie lips (think “Minnie Mouse”), part ethnic, part glamour and always over the top. Katsuhiro also has his own style of gentlemanly chic, but witha flare for patterns and color. The store reflects their style a lot with a mix of vintage and new items, many of them brands that you would be VERY hard pressed to find ANYWHERE else. Here’s Tomoko:
To celebrate the release of the new 2013 collection, the shop teamed up with my friend and one of my favorite fashion illustrators Przemek Sobocki (nee P-chan) for a page in their catalog featuring the Manish Arora items.
I sent my coffee table in my living room to the garbage pile with the glass cracked, and since then I have been piling up all of my photography books creating the illusion of a coffee table. Right now on the top of that pile is the “Pleats Please” book just published by Taschen.
It is not just an homage to the genius that is Issey Miyake’s PLEATS PLEASE brand of clothing, but a thorough look at how it was invented, developed and finally brought to fruition. It’s like…you wonder “Who discovered that mashing up coca beans and adding sugar would make Chocolate?!” or “How did one realize that fermenting cow milk would create cheese?!”. The mysteries of life! Well, with this book, the mystery of Miyake’s impossibly permanently pleated garment, the one that can be washed and squished and stuffed and worn for eons and still keep its shape, is revealed in detail (lots of experimentation, inventing new textiles, turning and twisting a pleat on its axes..yada, yada, ohhh, nothing special).
My image of Pleats Please was that for women who travel who might be older and given up on dressing in fancy clothes on trips. And then I saw how well Susie Bubble made the line look young and fresh and my interest was piqued. Since then I have watching it, collecting anectdotes and editorials, and even advertisements. My FAVORITE are the sushi and 2012 40th anniversary “Delicious” ads!
Looking at them again, I see just how true it is that these clothes do NOT go out of style. I know it’s not how the fashion cycle works, but oh how I wish I procure some archives!
Dazed and Confused June 2012 Photography Alex Sainsbury Styling Robbie Spencer
Also, the PLEATS PLEASE brand has just released its first ever fragrance. The first people to ever wear the PLEATS PLEASE brand were dancers, so to celebrate there is a dance performance being held at Tokyo Midtown next wed. 31st.
Miyake sure is a mad genius… and while Pleats Please has been around for many decades now, Miyake hasn’t relented on inventing new clothing. You HAVE seen his new “132 5.” origami brand right?
One of my favorite up and coming brands is Roggykei, which hail from Osaka. They have released their newest collection “New Horizon” at long last. They first presented it in Paris during fashion week in a show of wont for global permeance which is getting rarer in high-end Japanese fashion these days, methinks. Together with Balmung they had a great showing and I hear they are going again so if you’re industry and going to PFW in Feb., be sure to look them up.
Now, to New Horizon. Roggykei transcends a lot of the Japanese brand cliches and they’ve got their own style; nonchalant futurism, with a heavy dose of mixing colorful organic and inorganic textiles in minimalistic yet graphical shapes. Their lookbooks are often very edgy, saturated, cool and quite in-your-face but this season the image is much softer. Two androgynous models wander a dreamy beach lanscape in creative, pale makeup. They almost look like two otherworldly beings whose spaceship crashed on the earth at this desserted beach.
That is to say their designs haven’t totally softened, although it’s a new leaf to see knitwear and an abundance of chiffon in the designs. They so fluidly waver between menswear and womenswear that it truly seems to transcend gender-specific clothing. The laser cutting and high-tech textiles they use are stunning so look at the pics closely!
It’s winter, I`m freezing, you’re freezing my legs are FREEZING! So it’s time to wrap those babies up… but considering today’s trend of having more options than ever when it comes to legwear, it would be absolutely assinine of you to wear something like black tights, or even just one color. You probably know about Avantgarde, and then TOKONE (who I collaborated with on my own tights design, available now!). But here’s another one you may or may not (probably not!) know of:
Yep. It’s an Osaka-based brand and it has a collection of some of the most wild, creative, colorful, out-there tights I have ever seen. Each design comes in either tights or leggings, for 5,250yen each. That price seems to be the going price for printed leg-wear these days. The designer is a man and he’s an awesomely cool guy with a wicked sense of humor. How could he not?! Look at some of these:
As for the “kids’ illustration” type ones, they were ACTUALLY drawn by his child and printed on the tights. This was actually the first brand I had ever seen produce such bright tights, and even utilized modern printing techniques to make each leg different, as well as fronts and backs too.
It’s hard to get your hands on these in the shops, but they do sell online if you read Japanese here. I have the bones ones… but want so many more! I will probably go for the leggings so they last longer…. (note sizes are Japanese!). I hope to see more collections, and also hope they don’t retire their designs… these are seasonless and as long as no evil holes burrow their way into them *cry*… they can be worn for a really long time… if you have the courage to, that is! These are definitely for the wild at heart.
It’s time to warp at chic speed…to the past. November, to be exact, when Tokyo’s accessory-making prodigal son held the exhibition for his newest collection “INSECTA”. Joji rose to global status as a designer when Lady Gaga wore his mask on the cover for her Monster album. But rather than get ahead of himself Joji has been working away at his couture order-only collections since in his atelier (which he just moved from the quiet south of Tokyo to ritzy Ebisu. Fancy!). This newest collection follows his from last year which was inspired by wild animals “Utopia” though this time it’s insects.
Rather than get too literal, he took the outline of the shape of their exoskeletons, curves, claws and horns and made them into a series of impossibly perfectly polished armor rings. My little hand does not do them justice!
Then, for a more accessible choice, these are more affordable charms inspired by different butterflies that Joji makes by hand. He said that many of his customers end up wearing them with kimono. It sounds like a magical combination!
Joji Kojima： Born 1987 in California, U.S.A. He started learning to make accessories by himself at the age of 15 or so, and majored in graphic design, photography and typography in Tama Art University.While he was still in college, he attracted attention from different people in the world for contributing his works to one of LADY GAGA’s albums, and in 2010 established his own brand, JOJI KOJIMA. He has published his works at first-class select shops such as RESTIR in Tokyo, L’ECLAIREUR in Paris, and JOYCE in Hong Kong. He is also engaged in providing various artists in and around Japan with costumes and art directions.
Street style for men in Tokyo has been getting a fair chunk of the world’s attention lately, and with good reason – a Harajuku boy can rock deconstructed jackets and long skirts like no other. But where are my ladies at? They still know how to innovate, and this is especially apparent in the niche used-clothing styles that are keeping Tokyo’s fashion subcultures on the map. Three of the city’s most popular are “forest girl”, “80s disco”, and “neo vintage mix”, and I set out to find the girls who are making and cultivating these genres into successful new style trends.
This paragraph is the opening to an article I wrote for The Senken Newspaper, a daily fashion and apparel newspaper in Japan but also available in Paris and Tokyo during fashion week. It’s titled “Tokyo’s Girl Trend Setters are Behind the Registers” and I interviewed 3 leading ladies of fashion in Japan for it. Please pop over and read it online (In English only) . Everyone is so busy that it’s hard to sit down with people and hear their stories, so I was glad to have the excuse to get a one-on-one. Since I could only fit a couple hundred words onto the page, here are their interviews more in-depth.
今回この冒頭のイントロダクションで始まる記事を、“Tokyo’s Girl Trend Setters are Behind the Registersと銘打って繊研新聞で書いたのですが、普段多忙な彼女達のインタビューはあまりに興味深く、新聞の文字数では足りない！ということでここで未公開トークも交えて披露したいと思います！ちなみに原文の記事はオンラインでもご覧頂けるので、英語の勉強がてら読んでみてもいいかも！(英文記事)
*Let’s start with my first interviewee, Coi the head honcho and used and new boutique Bubbles in Harajuku. It opened in Feb 2011 and Coi was about 27 when she jumped ship at her previous used-clothing shop position at Kinsella. She took 7 years of experience in that market and decided to open a shop that more suited her tastes….
Coi: I knew about the malls, like 109 and Laforet but to me, I wanted to wear things that were more “free”. I was working at a [famous] place called Kinsella in Harajuku and learned the ropes there. My boss told me one day, “If you want to start your own shop, I`ll help you out.”
*I started to really pay attention to Bubbles last Dec when I heard news they were moving to a new location right off of Meiji Dori. I thought how amazing it was that a new shop was already moving to a better place from popularity! Well…
Coi: I`m super lucky that everyone thinks we moved because of just popularity, but to be honest our new store is a little bit smaller than before. The truth is our past owner was a little bit strange and unfair and wouldn’t renew our lease even though that’s what we were promised. So I had to pack up my shop and move it away! One of the most stressful things I’ve been through!
*Bubbles has a rather unimposing atmosphere, and is decorated kind of like the bedroom of a girl in her 20s who doesn’t want to grow up and still nostalgic for the 70s, 80s and 90s (but also wants some MiuMiu). There’s even a Mac computer on display (is it still there?) like any stylish girl would have. That, and funky bags and backpacks strewn from the ceiling and closets full of mom’s cool vintage clothing. For the interview, Coi herself was wearing flat sneakers (she was on a bicycle), a vintage MiuMiu dress, huge gemstone costume jewelry and an NBA basketball cap. Just try and make THAT fashion cocktail yourselves! Caution! Not for the amateurs….
Coi: I just wanted a store full of stuff that I liked. And I didn’t even really have an idea or concept until 3 months before we opened. I don’t even have a name for my personal style, even though I get asked to tag it as something all the time [oops, sorry for asking!!]. I used to like 70s style a lot but now I`m more into the end of the 70s into the 80s.. a big mix. But now the 80s stuff is starting to run out. It can’t last forever! We’ll have no choice but to move onto the 90s eventually before 80s stuff gets too expensive. I go on buying trips once about every 3 months to the US. Where do you recommend I go, Misha?
*I had no idea, sorry…I`m in Tokyo 11 months of the year for the past 9 years….. but back to Bubbles. I spent one entire afternoon perusing her blog because she puts together some really great outfits that have an air of maturity to them, but still experimental enough to play a leading part of Harajuku culture. This blog helped spur Bubbles to instant buzz…
Coi: I really was surprised that people knew about my shop so quickly. Especially since I was doing everything myself and couldn’t do tons of proper PR. But you know, everyone gets excited about a new shop, the hard part is keeping them interested. So I would put up lots of posts on my blog…. but then something terrible happened. Apparently one of my ideas from my shop was copied by another store. I couldn’t believe it. I felt really hurt…we are all just trying to keep Harajuku exciting and fresh and make our own way and stay in business. So now I don’t know if I should put anything on my blog anymore… even though some customers see something they like there and then come in to buy it. It puts me in a difficult position.
*I asked about an online shop then, and she explained she was setting one up as we were speaking….herself. She does her shop’s main website as well, and pretty much everything else. POWER! Gurl keeps the reins on and won’t just relinquish to anybody. Sometimes being a female and trying to grasp so much power is looked down upon in Japan. It’s far too “masculine”. What does Coi do when she has doubts?
Coi: Ari who owns The Virgin Mary is kind of my friend-slash-mentor and she gives me advice or stops by to see me. After six months I realzied how tough running a store was…I wanted to really do everything myself and control it all. I guess it’s like a maternal instinct a woman might have. This shop is my baby. But men are able to delegate and leave work to others which allows the business to get bigger. I have to work on that, I guess.
Coi: The Virgin MaryのオーナーのAriちゃんて子がいて、彼女は私の親友兼メンター なんだけど、私が困ったときには彼女にアドバイスをもらうようにしてるの。お店をオープンして半年経ったとき、その大変さを身に染みて分かったんだけど、やっぱり自分で出来る限りはやりたかったし、多分女性特有の根性強さが幸いしてなんとか切り抜けられたの。このお店は私の赤ちゃんみたいなものだからっていう考えもあるけど、でもそういう時に男性のビジネス的なやり方も必要なのかなと思って、今はそっちに頭がいってる。
*It must be really exciting though, to have so much influence and see your concept of fashion being put into practice on the streets of Harajuku with your customers.
Coi: *silence*
*Girl, you are totally influential! You know that, right?
Coi: I try not to acknowledge it…I think it’s better that way now, to not let it go to my head or influence me.
*Ok, but all of your fans love you. I know they’re there…
Coi: *silence*
*I’ve seen them on Twitter. They want to know when you’re working in the store! I KNOW you have fans!
Coi: ….I try not to think about it. It’s a funny thing. Of course I’m happy and thankful. But recently I`m not in the store as much, I`m doing back-end things.
Well, since this interview I didn’t see Coi around much, so she must be growing her balls and getting shit done. Good girl!! Your child is growing up and leaving the home…set it free! (she has a lot more employees to help out now). I suggest checking out her instagram and of course her shop’s blog. She also got her Bubbles online store set up as well! And the shop’s Twitter account is @BubblesTokyo (Japanese, but you’re jsut going to click on the photos anyway). Bubble go forth and float, up and away~
