Jump to content

djrajio

member
  • Posts

    6428
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by djrajio

  1. Plantation is distributed by A-net, also famous for acting as the parent company and distributor for Zucca and Final Home. A better website would be their corporate site:

    http://www.a-net.com/. There is an Aoyama store and now recently a Ginza store as well.

    There is also a webstore but they have stopped it temporarily. Hopefully will be up later. I believe super just linked to a person's personal blog, but either works.

  2. Japanese women DEFINITELY want to look feminine and classy. The number of magazines and books that are devoted to the Japanese cute/classy/Office Lady/elegant style easily eclipses the number of magazines for the "Harajuku" look. Try looking through magazines like JJ, ViVi, P.J., Classy, Pinky, etc. I think the west tends to concentrate on the Harajuku look because its so in your face/different. But seriously, everytime someone brings up the "punky Harajuku", I feel like we're still in 1997-98 and Fruits is still considered hot. Trends here go by FAST, some easily go by in like a week or two, its so much more diverse and complex than most westerns, including myself, can hope to attain understanding. For the korean market, I suggest to focus on the styles that are constantly ripped by Korean stars, singers from Japan (Koreans are notorious for this). Try molding niche brands to the trends and looks that seem to be developing in Korea before they happen. Also be aware that the majority of Japanese clothing labels are made in China, so you might have better luck building relationships there first. Peace.

  3. The gothic lolitas/guys all come out Sunday mid-day on the bridge of Yoyogi park. Back in mid-90s, the main street of Shibuya was also closed out so that people could strut their stuff amongst each other. The phenomena is sorta played out now and most of the goths play towards foreigners more than each other.

  4. Milspex, Norwegian boy is right. Apee is a new female line from BAPE for fall 2005. And *gasp* there will be ApeeXKaws collabs. IMHO, bape is really boring and passe now. In general the entire Harajuku look seems to be losing influence. And no I have never owned any Bape clothing. I've been more facinated with his business model than anything else. The only reason Nigo opened stores in SoHo and Taipei, etc., was because his gross revenue point in his homeland has been steadily declining for the last couple years.

  5. That's funny. Tommy H was just recently put up on the auction block and I think Walmart was interested in purchasing/had purchased them. I can't imagine TH taking over Helmut Lang. icon_smile_dissapprove.gif Tommy H has recently been really annoying me with its pervasive advertising on MTV Japan and product placements, making it seem its a hip American company, when in reality its a struggling Hong Kong outfit with a puppet regime designer *oops* i mean stylist.

  6. Milspex,

    Props for preaching the street knowledge. Most people in the West have no concept of the history behind these labels; I guess that's why it kills me to see BAPE gone mastige. And yes, Kimura Takuya was hugely influential to it all; the equivelent of Tom Cruise in the west. Pharrell is just another cog in the wheel. It's good to know that Japanese have expanded their options, except for the luxury european brand whoring...

  7. Wow. Broken beat. I love group like Bugz in the Attic, etc. But here in Tokyo, there isn't a scene for that (that I know of). Underground hip-hop:

    Club Nuts - Shibuya

    Bed - Ikebukuro

    Ruins 23 - Shinjuku

    Club Citta - Kawasaki

    Matrix - Yokohama

    Logos - Yokohama

    Club Asia and Nuevos in Shibuya occassionally host home-grown acts as well, but not as regularly on Friday/Saturday nights.

    These clubs regularly have underground DJ battles and dance crew battles. As well as home grown acts, groups that perform regularly.

    Roppongi does suck. If I didn't have to work here, I'd live in Naka-Meguro/Daikanyama/Omotesando. The clubs are really cheesy, especially Lexington Queen and Gas Panic and bars like Muse and Heartland. Bleh~... Only mid-life crisis foreigners and Christmas-cake women frequent those areas.

    But don't worry, Roppongi is nicely centered in the middle of everything, so you won't have to commute far. But I'd recommend you head to Yokohama if you have the chance!

  8. Please anyone on this board, don't go out and buy a "brand-name" fany belt pack. It just reeks of "brand-whore"-ishness. Let me suggest something else. Something really hot right now in Japan is Salon-hair designer waist packs, essentially the waist belts that hair sylists use to put their scissors, etc in.

    0630h.jpg

    Go to some salons and ask where the stylists buy their bags. The ones here in Japan are all leather and look tight. Plus they won't break your wallet.

  9. No. The incident was several years ago. Basically a bunch of US Marines from Yokosuka Chou got really drunk and torn down the entire place and Harlem had to close down for several months. And yes, you aren't allowed in Harlem as a foreigner without a Japanese accompanying you. This is actually good however, since the majority of the people that go there are really into hip-hop and it gives it a good vibe, without the sketchy foreigner "looking to hook-up" vibe of Roppongi. Hands down Harlem is still the best club for hip-hop in Tokyo. I believe DJ Masterkey DJ Hazime still have residency there. I don't recommend Pure at all, although its all you can drink. The Shibuya club is a really small and all Top 40 garbage. Mostly Japanese girls looking to hook-up with foreign guys and vise-versa. But if you're into that, then by all means. I recommend Womb, Air, Club Asia, Nuevos as well.

  10. Sizing is 41 = 9. Then every +1 is a 0.5 in American size. If you wear a 8.5 dunk size, buy a 40 for example. Quality wise: You get what you pay for. I'd say these are good disposable "fashiony" shoes for a season or two. 17,000 ~ 20,000 yen is like peanuts here in Japan. Everything is so expensive.

  11. The most popular shoe by far, from young to old, is the converse all-star black-white, then the Nike Dunk. You have to remember that back from the mid-80s to mid-90s, most sneaker companies were VERY focused on promotioning the American market and used to spend more marketing and pushing for all the newest shoes to America and Europe. As a result, most of Asia, including Japan, was short-changed with many retroed, simplier models largely because most companies figure many Asians couldn't afford them. It was only during the mid-90s, did Japanese create the "Harajuku" look that reflected these retroed models and sneaker companies start realizing that Japan represented a truely new and unique market. Furthermore, most Japanese are into what's popular in America. If its American, made in America, etc., its more popular/highly-desirable. I would have to say a VERY small percentage of Japanese are very into Japanese-only brands. Most are into high luxury European brands and American luxury/lifestyle clothing labels. The most popular label in Japan? Burberry. Particular because they have many diffusion labels: Burberry White Label (Armani Exchange), Burberry Black Label (Emperio Armani), Burberry Porsum, Burberry (Armani), for every price range only in Japan. I'd have to say Alfredo Bannister isn't that popular for most Japanese.

×
×
  • Create New...