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top 5 japanese brands you hate and why


Guest jmatsu

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Guest jmatsu
Meh, not much to add:

2. Goodenough - crap made for the Japanese equivalent of people who wear lots of A&F here.

Anyway, I wouldn't say that fashion in Japan is really "ahead" of any other country. It's more like Japanese fashionheads jump on and off trends (good or bad) with enthusiasm than North American or European folks.

while i am not a fan, i must state thatgoodenough's aesthetic and quality is far superior to that of a&f (jap good enough and good enough u.k.). sorry, you really don't know what you're talking about.

japan is ahead of any country as far as fashion goes (per person per capita). i'm not saying that they have a better sense of "good" fashion, but the fashion industry's media mediums are far greater in volume in japan (then in any other country). next month's magazine is probably already out and it's only the 11th.

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they have all the hyped streetwear store there.... so i guess yes..

hating recent visvims.. not much orginality...

Not hating the aesthetic of the recent Visvim shit... but the price is absolutely ridiculous, and it makes me sad to think that they needed to stick patent leather all over everything to make it appealing to Americans... which it probably was... but not for me :(

Edit: Can someone well-versed in contemporary Japanese culture please explain the Mastermind/Roen/Roar trend going on now? How big is it over there? Is there some kind of celebrity figure that people are copying (a la Pharrell with BBC/BAPE) or is it an underground cult thing? Because, quite frankly, that shit is beyond comprehension for me right now.

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Guest jmatsu

Edit: Can someone well-versed in contemporary Japanese culture please explain the Mastermind/Roen/Roar trend going on now? How big is it over there? Is there some kind of celebrity figure that people are copying (a la Pharrell with BBC/BAPE) or is it an underground cult thing? Because, quite frankly, that shit is beyond comprehension for me right now.

my theory is that the whole rock/punk style is big because of the way japan's fashion industry's biz is dictated in there. the stylists probably at the height of street fashion wanted to push something different. even though this style is getting alittle too typical for their tastes as of late, mastermind/roen/roar/bigger brands of the same nature are still basically bribing certain stylists/mag editors to extend their media longevity. there are alot of celebrity figures wearing mastermind and it is considered a luxury brand (jap celebrities love wearing expensive shit, especially when it's free). roen/roar too are becoming typical staples in tokyo.

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next month's magazine is probably already out and it's only the 11th.

This makes no sense. I could date my magazine Jan 2010. Does that make it ahead of it's time?

Japanese fashion is never ahead of it's time, I would say it is extremely retrospective with very good hindsight. It copies authentic American style but in many cases it is rethought and done better. Doesn't make sense to me why so many brands need to price themselves into being cool though. Do you think Visvim and Neighborhood would be as cool if it was as cheap as Stussy?

Think of all the aesthetics that people are discussing here. Hip Hop, Workwear, Military-wear, Punk, Dunks, Vans, the list goes on. All of these things are American.

The crappy part is that while Japan continues to re-hash old American ideas, America isn't creating anything these days that they'll eventually want to copy. That means everyone needs to step up their game.

Of all brands I hate, I'm hating Nike the most right now. I'm unbelievably sick of the accomodating market they've created for sneakers/streetwear in the past 5 years. The streetwear boom that followed the everyones-a-sneakerhead craze is also annoying.

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Guest jmatsu
This makes no sense. I could date my magazine Jan 2010. Does that make it ahead of it's time?

Japanese fashion is never ahead of it's time, I would say it is extremely retrospective with very good hindsight. It copies authentic American style but in many cases it is rethought and done better. Doesn't make sense to me why so many brands need to price themselves into being cool though. Do you think Visvim and Neighborhood would be as cool if it was as cheap as Stussy?

QUOTE]

i never said that japanese fashion is "ahead of it's time." i meant that as far as a general knowledge (when compared to other countries) of labels, media outlets, and product availability, the japanese are ahead (and i would assume that while not everyone is dressed immaculately, the japanese as a whole appear more fashion-conscious the other countries). when i mentioned that magazines keep coming out even before the release date, i was trying to illustrate the japanese media's abundance of knowledge.

i disagree when you say that japanese fashion is never ahead of it's time. if it were not for asics/onitsuka tiger nike may not even be the powerhouse it is today (yes, i know you hate nike). comme des garcons was ahead of it's time in the 80's.

i also think that you cannot judge the price points of a japanese brand unless you can comprehend the japanese fashion industry from a biz and social perspective . think of astronomical rent in tokyo? what about the high cost of living there? not to mention expensive advertising, red tape, etc. etc. i know for a fact that it is way harder to start a clothing biz in japan then america.

"do you think visvim and nbhd would be as cool if it was as cheap as stussy?" of course.

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Well, in response to the pricing thing I think I will have to disagree with you. I fulyl comprehend Japanese rent/cost of living...I lived there (albeit in Nagoya)! I live in NYC currently (Nolita) within 5-10 minutes of just about every streetwear store/brand in New York. None of them are as expensive as the Hiroshi Fujiwara brands. Supreme doesn't overcharge yet they are still up on a pedestal.

You're right about the CDG stuff...didn't think of them.

I was just being antagonistic about the magazine thing...sorry.

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while i am not a fan, i must state thatgoodenough's aesthetic and quality is far superior to that of a&f (jap good enough and good enough u.k.). sorry, you really don't know what you're talking about.

japan is ahead of any country as far as fashion goes (per person per capita). i'm not saying that they have a better sense of "good" fashion, but the fashion industry's media mediums are far greater in volume in japan (then in any other country). next month's magazine is probably already out and it's only the 11th.

This is the main point of LA Guy`s I didnt agree with. Dont give a fuck if he doesnt like taps or any of that shit. more taps for me. its just that he doesnt know what he`s talking about. Bape wasnt always clown shit either.

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Hell, even Stussy and XLarge were different in Tokyo and would do Tokyo exclusives that you could get anywhere else. And the designs were pretty interesting for the time. I dunno what it is, but I'm finding it harder and harder to find things that are "Fresh" here. I've been recently drawn to the reu-rave, Berlin designer wave because of it...

Stussy still does tons of Japan exclusives, aswell as individual chapter exclusives.

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Guest jmatsu
Well, in response to the pricing thing I think I will have to disagree with you. I fulyl comprehend Japanese rent/cost of living...I lived there (albeit in Nagoya)! I live in NYC currently (Nolita) within 5-10 minutes of just about every streetwear store/brand in New York. None of them are as expensive as the Hiroshi Fujiwara brands. Supreme doesn't overcharge yet they are still up on a pedestal.

You're right about the CDG stuff...didn't think of them.

I was just being antagonistic about the magazine thing...sorry.

i understand why one would have opinion like yours. not just the rent and the cost of living, but what about "made in japan" manufactoring? i don't know the rent of the shops in your areas (i assume that they are expensive...), but in no way would they compare to that of tokyo. you lived in nagoya? when? nagoya's sakai area is probably the most expensive in the entire tokai area, but it also cannot compare to that of tokyo.

from a japanese consumer's perspective i don't find hf's brands to be too expensive when compared to other stuff in japan. 6000yen for a tee, that's industry standard. if you look at other tees in america like surface2air, rogue's gallery, just another rich kid, i don't see much of a difference. visvim is priced almost if not cheaper then the new york shoe brand common projets. from an american perspective it could be argued that supreme is over priced for some of their accessories (just for this conversation's sake).

anyway i just don't think that it's fair to judge pricing based on only one country's perspective alone. i could argue the same point about goyard, fendi and various other luxury brands of lower quality. in the end we (not necessarily you or i) not only paying for the product, but for it's image and connotations as well.

you don't have to apologize, i never took anything personal. good day.

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Guest jmatsu
This is the main point of LA Guy`s I didnt agree with. Dont give a fuck if he doesnt like taps or any of that shit. more taps for me. its just that he doesnt know what he`s talking about. Bape wasnt always clown shit either.

obviously he was just trying to get some attention by hating on things that he doesn't really understand.

i agree, bape wasn't always clown shit. i'm not going to lie, i owned a bunch. i probablt liked bape better from the nowhere era -and then when nigo was in bed with mo wax and not as bling as he is today.

i also don't fancy most of the people who wear bape now days.

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i hope the other 3% is the bitches.

3% includes

+the super fitted M-65 style jacket

+dress from Egoist

and another dress i'm probabaly going to end up buying at Egoist.

109 = forever 21

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For some reason Alba Rosa comes to mind. God was that one of the worst fashion trends/label ever outta Shibuya...

I never understood their look.

A lot of pieces with floral/Hawaiian patterns and a lot of fur.

At least that's what I saw last time I payed attention to them.

But those two styles seem so different that they wouldn't/don't come together well.

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i think alba rosa craze (i remember about 10yrs ago, everybody was wearing alba rosa at one point) comes from japan's neverending fascination with hawaii. everybody loves and dreams of hawaii... or anything tropical.

i didn't know that store still existed. amazing.

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i didn't know that store still existed. amazing.

The flagship store outside of Marui City doesn't exist anymore. But man was that place a mecca for gyaru. That and HMV in Shibuya were like the headquaters of gyaru centa-gai.

Sadly Moussy closed down...:( Sly is still around though. God I love girls that rock the Moussy/Sly look!

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that wasn`t urahara kei. fruits and shit was different. that was visual kei or gothic lolita and shit - the same as you see in Takeshita still today.

pre 2000 Ura-hara kei (behind/underground harajuku) was the more adult oriented stuff all of behind where the GAP/cat street is. It was the original Nowhere, Neighborhood, Revolver, Undercover, and later Transport, SOPH/FCRB etc.

40percent was also one of the original

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The flagship store outside of Marui City doesn't exist anymore. But man was that place a mecca for gyaru. That and HMV in Shibuya were like the headquaters of gyaru centa-gai.

Sadly Moussy closed down...:( Sly is still around though. God I love girls that rock the Moussy/Sly look!

I just checked the new Sly collection;I may have to stop in there too while I am back home :D

109 is definitely the mecca. I was the last 'street/teamer' generation, then garu trend started... I kind of wish I could've been a gary at one point and hung out at 109!

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Guest jmatsu
3% includes

+the super fitted M-65 style jacket

+dress from Egoist

and another dress i'm probabaly going to end up buying at Egoist.

109 = forever 21

oops, i just realized you're a female. sorry...i guess.

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Guest jmatsu
I just checked the new Sly collection;I may have to stop in there too while I am back home :D

109 is definitely the mecca. I was the last 'street/teamer' generation, then garu trend started... I kind of wish I could've been a gary at one point and hung out at 109!

everyone usually dogs on kogal/gal. sure while some are decent, most arre dumb and scary looking. i prefer onae-kei, ala jj/vivi (for looks), but i have realized that kogal/gal have more integrity/guts then the other. they do their thing, and take zero shit from anyone. onae-kei purely dress just to attract the opposite sex, have little original thought/clothing sense, and are purely bred for konpa(they look good though...), but it's not as if they are on their own shit. kogal look fucking ridiculous, but i can respect the gangsterism of the kogalu-elite who rule shibuya up until tokyu hands. before, they were the female counterparts of chiman.... so gangster. they live by some weird kogal code that we will never understand.

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jmatsu- it's okay. i would have socked you if you saw me in person and thought i was a guy, but this is only the interweb ;)

kogaru is definitely in their own world. yamanba-garus are scary as fuck (i still don't understand why they dress/wear their make up that way?) but kogarus, i can take. it's really hard to hold a conversation with them though, as they have way too many lingos of their own.

the onae-kei you speak of; i can totally see what you are saying. but then again, those are the kinds my guy friends go crazy over, and eventually ruin their lives for (mainly their bank accounts) :D

back in my days, it was all about "ame-kaji" (american casual) where people wore redwing boots, vintage levi's bootcut, and carried goro's wallets; full on comme des garcon, mode-kei; or ozonne/hysteric glamour/milk craziness.

those were the days.

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Guest jmatsu

back in my days, it was all about "ame-kaji" (american casual) where people wore redwing boots, vintage levi's bootcut, and carried goro's wallets; full on comme des garcon, mode-kei; or ozonne/hysteric glamour/milk craziness.

those were the days.

so nolstalgic. my old girlfriend (she used to always shop at rosebud. yeah it's still there) used to work at goro's in highschool (when he was still alive). he used to force me to smoke pot and role joints for him.

i had a couple chiman nakama that used to be all about ame-kaji, but i kicked it at milk, with the posers/punkrockers. ozone and hys were big, but i never really owned anything. i always had and still have a soft spot for milkboy though. alittle after this was that french shit/craze? remember when shibuya kei used to = pizzicat5/readymade records-look? this was when fai and blue were in their prime.

"back in my days.."

how old are you? you don't look too old.

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ROSEBUD!!!!!!! that was definitely my spot, too along with shops like dep't. I'm really sad to hear Goro san passed, I had no idea. I used to (and still do somewhere in my closet blackhole) rock his hip bag thing along with my engineer boots. Oh my.

French casual was kinda fun, imo. I still love bands like agnes b. and APC. Though the merge of French casual/ Shimokita-kei/ Shibuya kei was horrible. That's when I brought my Olive magazines to the recycler.

I grew up in Nishi-ogi so my life revolved around garage/punk music. Hung out mostly in Kichijoji and Koenji. Watts, 20000v, Antinock, Loft were my second home... ahh natsukashii!

I am 30... you must be around my age if you know Milkboy?

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