The Tokyo London Connection

            I recently submitted an abstract of an oral presentation research paper for the Costume Society of America’s 2014 symposium. The idea for my submission was that there is a connection between London, which is famous for subcultural movements, and Tokyo, which currently garners a lot of attention for street style, in relation to societal atmospheres and influences that create inspiration for subcultures.  I also stated that I believe Japanese street fashion draws a large part of it’s inspiration from London’s past subculture movements.

Carnaby Street in London. Photo source: Wikipedia

Oral Presentation

The Tokyo London Connection

            London. Milan. New York. Paris. Tokyo. These five cities reign as the world’s fashion capitals. Each one is known for inspiring it’s own type of fashion. While Paris is the city par excellence, and New York and Milan are the centers of ready-to-wear, in Tokyo and London avant-garde drive fashion forward. Both cities are known not only for their cutting edge fashion, but also for subcultures that have emerged from them. Aside from London, which has been known for subcultures that have arisen there in the past, Tokyo is the only fashion center that has such large scale subculture movements. Harajuku, an area in Tokyo where many young people gather to shop and dress in eclectic street fashions, is reminiscent of London’s Carnaby Street, once a popular shopping and gathering place for Mods and Hippies. Japanese street fashion seems to draw inspiration from the subculture phenomenon’s seen in London’s fashion history.

Members of the Mod subculture, on Carnaby Street. Photo from wikipedia

            By looking at and comparing the street fashions of London and Tokyo we can see similarities in the subculture scenes of both cities. A subculture, by definition, is a group whose behaviors and beliefs are different than those in mainstream culture. While fashion is a reflection of society, subcultures that emerge are related to the problems within it. Seeing that Tokyo and London have such similar large scale subculture phenomenon’s, could there be some kind of likeness between the problems seen in society in London during the 1970’s and 80’s, and ones currently seen in Tokyo? British subcultures can be seen having a presence today in Harajuku, where members of the Punk subculture, which was born on the streets of London, are commonly found. In Harajuku British clothing brands, such as Vivienne Westwood and Boy London, have seen popularity in Harajuku amongst subculture groups like Lolita and Goth. Tokyo’s runway fashion, in a similar vein as London’s, has been known to be home to avant-garde designs, the aesthetics of which can be seen trickling down into the creative and artistic street fashion of youth subcultures in Tokyo today.

Photo from tokyofashion.com

This presentation will compare subcultures in London with those seen in Tokyo’s Harajuku neighborhood. While in the recent past there has been much written and many discussions about the street styles seen in Japan, there has been no other in depth research comparing the subcultures that have garnered so much attention in these two fashion centers. Relying on the works of theorist Dick Hebdige, and Yuniya Kawamura, author of Fashioning Japanese Subcultures, alongside fashion historians such as Caroline Evans, David Muggleton, and Valerie Steele, the author will compare and relate the subculture scenes of these two cities from a cultural and theoretical standpoint.