Tokyo Fashion Week: Street style lessons [pics]

We are just days away from the start of the 2022 season in New York. But Tokyo is already taking action with a “phygital” fashion week and street style classes. After a dangerous increase in COVID cases, many local planners have returned to digital exhibitions and videos. Others have organised live events simply without an audience. Yet from the impressive street performances, you wouldn’t know that much has changed. The inhabitants of the world’s most futuristic metropolis dared to make adventurous and unexpected appearances.

Harajuku girls

The famous Harajuku girls are the main example of street style in Japan. The name Harajuku comes from the homonymous region of Japan where street style fashion flourished. The Harajuku girls started dressing extremely formally in costumes on weekends. It was an attempt to express their personality more creatively through their appearance. Eventually their extravagant style went from a Sunday habit to a way of life. These women now dress like this on a daily basis to express their individuality and femininity or even their masculinity.

Harajuku style

Their style is basically a mixture of well-known Japanese styles, such as Sweet lolita, Gothic lolita, Visual kei, Cosplay, Decora, Gyaru. It is a style rich in punk references, intertwined with fairytale and romantic elements. Traditional clothing, such as the kimono in its most punky and imaginative version, also occupies a prominent place. Harajuku girls draw inspiration mainly from Japanese pop culture, manga and music. Women’s appearances are characterized by excessive use of accessories, bright colours, many layers and generally eclectic style.

The main characteristic that one can identify in the style of these women is that fashion has no gender. Also important is how they treat the lines of the clothes, so that their style is sophisticated and unique. Street style fashion in Tokyo is, in other words, the epitome of sartorial freedom, experimentation and uniqueness.