Subculture: Harajuku kids

For my chosen subculture I have decided to go with harajuku kids as their diverse style and avant-garde  clothing interest me the most. Harajuku is well known for having produced subcultures even before the 1990s. Japan’s street fashion scenes include a multitude of interesting subcultures, one of the most fascinating is the Harajuku Girls. While the Japanese themselves don’t usually refer to this subculture with this title, the phrase hit the mainstream of American consciousness with Gwen Stefani’s Love.Angel.Music.Baby. album.

The fascination of Harajuku kids stems from their fashion ensembles that reflect sexiness mixed with characterisations. Subcultures of Harajuku kids are sometimes manga inspired like Cosplay, but tend to revolve around genres such as Gothic Lolita, Decro, Gothic Maid, Vintage, and sexy school girl. The Gothic Lolita influence includes Victorian style influences, such as lace, corsets, ruffled hems and collars, and headpieces. However an ensemble of Harajuku kids can easily include a mix of such ideas including corseted tops, maid type uniforms, thick layers in short skirts, soft and furry capes, purses, and charms with animal motifs such as lambs, rabbits, or fawns. Outfits are topped with Little Bo Peep hats, mini maid hats, mini tophats, and crowns, depending on one’s preference of Harajuku kids genre. They can also include thigh-high leggings or intriguing tights, worn with clunky platform shoes. Some are into black gothic ensembles, others into pink.

Vintage

hime gyaru

Decora

different subgroup of harajuku kids

goth 

cosplay

Ganguro's are another subculture under Harajuku. The Ganguro use tanning machines and make up to make their skin as dark as possible. They also bleach their hair and apply pale make up on their lips and around their eyes for a strange panda effect. The Ganguro wear high platform boots, very short skirts in neon colours with gold jewelry. The Ganguro are heavily influenced by hip hop culture that they want to become black. When asked about changing their skin colour some Ganguro girls replied that it made them look healthier, thin, smart and cool.

Ganguro

“Kuro (hada) gyaru” literally means “black skin gals”. Ten years ago, their dark tans (several Black Diamond members actually work at tanning salons) may have led to these girls being labeled ganguro. However, kuro gyaru is a thoroughly modern version of the super-tanned gyaru. When it comes to fashion, Black Diamond’s kuro gyaru members share a love for the Japanese brand D.I.A., with most members wearing D.I.A. items daily.

In recent years, Japanese gyaru magazines like Egg have focused more on the less-extreme shiro gyaru (white skin gals). But Japan’s fashion scene changes quickly and there are recent signs that tans gals may be making a comeback. Egg launched “Foxy egg” this summer, a sister publication that covers the new kuro gyaru boom and showcases sexier, less conservative gals. Soul Sister Magazine also covers kuro gyaru, including running several features on members of Black Diamond.

Black Diamond’s over one hundred members come from all over Japan – from as far north as Hokkaido and as far south as Okinawa. While Shibuya remains the center of gyaru culture (Black Diamond members can frequently be seen on the streets around 109), they also hold meetings in other cities throughout Japan. The basic goals of the group are simple – to support each other through shared interests, to make friends, and to promote kuro kyaru fashion and culture both inside of Japan and abroad.

Kuro Gyaru

As there are a lot of subgroup within Harajuku kids I have decided to go with the harajuku vintage girls because there clothing that they mostly wear are very interesting and it fits more into my style than the other subgroup. I am gonna be doing my styling photo shoot taking inspiration from this subgroup and making it my own.