It is not my intention to write a piece here on the past history, reasons, inspiration or meaning behind the fashion show that has been dubbed 'Harajuku Girls' by the popular media. These are the junior high school and (mainly) high school girls who abandon their school uniforms on Sundays, exchanging them for as individual a display of eclectic fashion as can be seen anywhere in the world. So much has been written, blogged, photographically reproduced, and explained, about this phenomena that I don't have anything to add to it, philosophically.
Harajuku fashion appears to be becoming much more stylised, less eclectic. Fashion labels now, rather than home made, or at least as it was originally, assembled from found objects?
But last time I was there, in the Spring of 2005, I think I detected a shift in the way these girls were dressed. If you take a look at Shoichi Aoki's photographic essay, titled 'Fruits', which was produced from photographs taken around 1999/2000, you can see mainly very individually styled outfits produced from modified 'ordinary' clothes, hand-made outfits, bizarre ensembles produced from assembling a strange mix of second-hand pieces, and clothes made from altering traditional Japanese garments and footwear. The result was a colorful, raggedy collection of clothing that had a punky, homeless, orphan kind of feel to it.
A very coordinated, unified vinyl outfit, and a shot of the Sunday crowd gathered near the entrance to the Meiji shrine. There ar probably more camera wielding tourists (like me!) in the crowd now than Harajuku Girls.
A few other 'movements' also became popular shortly after this, such as anime inspired outfits, and the appearance of the 'loligoth' (gothic Lolitas) look. But the main thing that I noticed last year was that there had been a shift away from personally collected clothing to coordinated outfits that were obviously store bought. It would be natural for the fashion houses to cash in on the Harajuku trends, but in my opinion it will be the reason it will die, or change. There is a sameness creeping in in style, and this changes the whole concept. And now the girls have whole entourages, of make-up people, hairstylists, etc. I also noticed that it has become a huge mecca for foreign tourists. The place in Tokyo to see the unusual. There were probably more tourists there on the Sunday I visited than there were Harajuku people. And I don't think the scene was ever about being a spectacle for camera toting tourists. For each other, but not for outsiders.
'Loligoth' outfits, Little-Bo-Peep anime inspired costumes, but the clothes seem to have developed a stylised, shop-bought look. And the girls travel with an entourage now.
Harajuku has been through this before, of course. It was the home of the Elvis look-a-likes (not really look-a-likes, more like caricatures due to the exaggerated nature of their hair and clothing) not long after the Tokyo Olympics, and some of these guys can still be found around Harajuku. Watch this video for a 2003 version! And even the recent trend has had minor shifts and changes. Interesting to me though is what will evolve next?
Will it be back to the classical look of kimonos, like we are starting to see more and more on young people at weddings, or festivals, or shrine visits? Unlikely, but in Harajuku, I guess any development is possible.
Or will it be a complete change, rather than an evolution? Perhaps back to the very classical Japanese kimono look, like I see more and more young women wearing these days, at weddings, and festivals. I have no idea, but it will be worth visiting Harajuku each time I manage to wangle a trip to Tokyo to find out. Tokyo is going through a rapidly resurging economic boom, so money to finance it will be no object, and may inspire something just as remarkable as the Harajuku Girls were.
RK.
Movie of Harajuku Elvis dancers here.
Powerhouse museum exhibition of Shoichi Aoki's photos, 'Fruits'.
I think its neat. I might be american, but the Harajuku outfits are awesome. It is about individuality, though, and fashion designers should take take that into consideration.
Posted by: Beth | April 10, 2007 at 09:31 PM
I don't know what you mean by 'I might be an American, but....' I'm not an American, and I think they are good, too. But to claim that a whole group of people gathering in the same place, wearing the same kind of outfits, are about individuality, is to completely misunderstand a culture that has very little to do with individuality.
Posted by: Ray Kinnane | April 10, 2007 at 10:00 PM
"as individual a display of eclectic fashion as can be seen anywhere in the world," you say. But now they have little to do with individuality?
Posted by: Jane | April 23, 2007 at 12:13 PM
All I can say is that what was for a short time, now isn't. And that is what happens in this society. Historically. The proverb of the nail in the floor, repeated many times over.
Posted by: Ray Kinnane | April 24, 2007 at 12:46 AM
yay harajuku ^^ i wish i had the creativity to come up with clothes like that XD
Posted by: | September 03, 2007 at 07:32 AM
it's really good fashion at Harajuku..i like very much..^^
Posted by: melly | October 29, 2007 at 10:40 AM
is really interesting how you describe it but i have heard so many times people say that harajuku fashion is mainly inspired by anime and manga. I'm a fashion designer and i like to know if that's true, do you have any examples? or do you think that their inspirations comes from other sourses? but yeah i know that they're kind of losing originality when it comes to come up with new things. i have looked at some many pics of harajuku fashion and now all of them seem to be the same thing. i dunno that's just me but could you help me out with that?
Posted by: Paola | October 21, 2008 at 02:26 AM