Japan's Gothic & Lolita "Fashion"

Japan’s fantasyf ashion scene is not for the timid. The “Gothic & Lolita” book of photos shot in Tokyo & Osaka show a blend of history, anime, ruffles & lace

"The idea for 'Gothic & Lolita' came about after many years of visiting Japan and seeing firsthand the incredible energy of street fashion in both Tokyo and Osaka," Mark Sanders, a consulting editor at Phaidon, recently told WWD about their latest streetfashion book. "What often seemed on an immediate level 'bizarre' cultural excess has in fact its own internal set of rules and logic."

From lacy Victoriana, to wigs, voluminous tulle skirts, and merry widows, “Gothic & Lolita” depicts the slavish devotion of young Tokyo and Osaka fashionistas to the modern medieval look. "The Gothic and Lolita scene first came in existence in the late Nineties with the explosion of visual kei bands, Japanese rock bands who were characterized by their New Romantic clothing and makeup. But in the decade since then, the scene has taken on a life of its own. Gothic fashion fuses with Lolita style to create this interesting hybrid, which is so Japanese. They take Western culture and put their own personalized spin on it. It is as if you are looking at codes of your own culture regurgitated back at you, a new form of global pop culture for the masses."

Interestingly, the book of photos by Masayuki Yoshinaga features scant explanatory text, other than what the subject is into and how they describe their fashion viewpoint. “And these prove to be as arbitrary as the emergence of the trend itself. For instance, Yuka, age 18, teams crochet tights with a dress of graffiti patchwork motifs, and lists her own funeral as a fashion inspiration, and fermented beans as her current obsession.” Other creative types rock the “Byronic Goth” look, such as Rose and Giggles, 26 & 32 respectively, one rocking a lacy gown replete with ruffles, and the other a corseted Victorian shirt. "They look so great, a mixture of fantasy with a literary edge," he said. "The girl even has the melting clock face painted on the side of her head, [with] memories of Dali. There are not many other youth cultures in the world that are alive to the past. It reminds you of the Punk attitude of the Seventies in London, a time when bands could reference Dostoyevsky and get away with it."

Available at Amazon.com.

- via WWD