djrajio

^^ Ha. God I love superfuture. I don't know too many boards on the internet that have such a diverse group of people.

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.

There is a large outdoor store just across from Shinjuku Eki. Pretty famous. You also try Shibuya, flagship stores for Patagonia and North Face are there.

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.

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.

Reckon? Naw, I'm pretty sure that's the supreme t-shirt.

Edited by djrajio on Nov 7, 2005 at 12:59 AM

Ur good. Even if there are national holidays, the stores will still be open.

If it were a wool or wool blend then I would have thought you did an awesome job. But, 175 dollars for cotten trousers? Hmmm. I dunno. Hopefully the fit is good.

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.

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. 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.

Even to Japan?

Edited by djrajio on Nov 3, 2005 at 08:14 PM

Diesel purchased a majority stake in the label late 2002? I can't remember but it was a couple years back. So far the label still seems to be quite independent. Diesel has killed itself but I'm sure they're making a healthy profit.

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...

makoxboi,

Please use the search feature and read the forums so that you'll stop making a fool of yourself.

Alfredo Bannister. I also recommend a brand called TOUGH.

Here are more:

Edited by djrajio on Oct 29, 2005 at 12:58 AM

I'd like to also suggest these as well:

Edited by djrajio on Oct 29, 2005 at 12:25 AM

Yokohama. There is a giant mural under the highway there that a lot of graf heads do their work.

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!

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.

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.

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.

Also, if you are intrested in anything from Japan and want to purchase online. PM me. I'll help you out.

yes! I dunno about funky but really cool looking sneakers that I learned about is FIFE sneakers:

More here: http://zozo.jp/shop/zicue/goods.html?cid=117

Edited by djrajio on Oct 26, 2005 at 06:46 PM

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.

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.

Cool shoes. The store is Harajuku is really funky. Same mod/country/bohemian vibe as Alfredo Bannister. You can check out some of the styles here: http://www.rakuten.co.jp/whoop/