Japanese Streetwear AKA Japanese Street Fashion
[related: Onitsuka Tiger, Commes des Garçons, Destroy, Peeps]
Cluster of tangentially related styles and lines of Japanese clothing that first emerged in the wake of World War 2. Founded in 1950, Onitsuka Tiger (known now as ASICS) was the first streetwear company to gain any significant market share. In the early 1980's Japanese Streetwear began developing an international "runway" presence, with a number of companies establishing haute couture "houses" in the style of French and Italian designers. Most prominent among these new lines were Issey Miyake, Yohi Yamamoto, and Commes des Garçons (CDG), a label founded in Tokyo by designer Rei Kawakubo. In 1980 Kawakubo released a collection called "Destroy" that was heavily influenced by punk rock, including an eponymous fragrance that contained actual human sweat. The line was decimated by critics but widely embraced by CDG's female clientele for its baggy framing and figure-hiding cuts[1][2]. By the 1990's, the Japanese streetwear movement had splintered into an almost endless mosaic of different sub-trends, including, but not limited to, Gothic Lolita, Gyaru (girly-glam), Amekaji (Western American motorcycle enthusiast), Cult Party Kei (Virgin Mary), and Peeps (HealthGoth).
- Urban Photography Collection (1984)
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- ↑ As Japan's most prominent female fashion designer, Kawakubo claimed it was her duty to provide less revealing and more comfortable designer clothing options.
- ↑ Reportedly Kawakubo first stated this dictum following her break-up with her colleague Yohi Yamamoto - a designer who focused largely on creating non-gendered clothing.