Japan Fashion Now (2010) on Lolita Fashion
by Valerie Steele, Patricia Mears, Yuniya Kawamura and Hiroshi Narumi
The most famous of all the contemporary Japanese tribes are the Lolitas or Lolis, who were first identified in Tokyo in the 1990s in the Harajuku neighborhood, and have now evolved into a number of different sub-genres including the Classic (or Traditional) Lolita, the Sweet Lolita, and the Gothic Lolita. The term "Lolita" (Rorita) presumably derives from Nabokov's infamous novel and usually references the sexual fetishization of young girls by older men, known in Japan as rorikon, an abbreviation of rorita conpurekksu ("Lolita complex"). Yet the Japanese Lolita subculture has significantly redefined its meaning, as well as adopting at least two non-standard ways of writing the word to distinguish it from the sexualized term. Japanese Lolis are young women (and some young men) in their teens and twenties; they are not young girls, although they dress in a self-consciously girlish and fancifully archaic style.
The classic Lolita look features a frilly, Alice in Wonderland style of dress, often pink or pale blue in color, with a full skirt over petticoats, partly covered by a white apron, and with accessories such as Mary Jane shoes, a parasol, and doll-like purse. A stuffed animal or doll may also be carried. The look as a whole is often said to resemble a nineteenth-century French doll or jumeau. Although popularly associated with Harajuku, many observers believe that the Lolita style originated in Osaka, which has a lively subcultural fashion scene of its own. The designer Hitomi Okawa, who founded the Harajuku boutique Milk in 1970, was probably a precursor of the Lolita style, as was the designer Isao Kaneko of An-An with his "romantic Victorian-meets-Little-House-on-the-Prairie-style outfits that were lovely, pink, and ruffled.
The Sweet Lolita or Ama Rorita (abbreviated as Amarori) also wears pastel dresses inspired by Victorian or Rococo styles, liberally deco- rated with bows and ruffles. Accessories, such as heart-shaped purses and frilly caps, are romantic and feminine. Baby, The Stars Shine Bright, founded in 1988 by Akinori Isobe, is a fashion brand closely associated with Lolitas and Sweet Lolitas. "I love the frills, the lace, the ribbons. They look like doll clothes,” says a salesgirl. “It's so cute … . . It's about being completely absorbed in your own world.” Other popular Lolita brands include Angelic Pretty, Alice and the Pirates, Juliette and Justine, and Victorian Maiden.
Baby, The Stars Shine Bright was featured in the 2004 movie Kamikaze Girls (Shimotsuma Monogatori), which depicts an unlikely friendship between a tough biker girl and an ultra-feminine Lolita. It was also among the first Lolita brands to collaborate with doll and toy manufacturers. "Lolita girls are nostalgic for childhood,” explains Kumiko Uehara. “They don't want to be adult." Hence the attach- ment to dolls. It is also "exclusively a culture for girls - boys are not allowed." Her colleague, Akinore Isobe is a rare man in the world of Lolita fashion. Although he began as a designer, he says that today "Our designers are all female." There are currently eight designers at Baby, and another two at spin-off brand Alice and the Pirates, which was created "for tomboyish girls." At that time, there was a trend in Japan for young people going to clubs dressed as pirates in the style of Vivienne Westwood and Adam and the Ants. As Kumiko Uehara puts it, "If Alice in Wonderland jumped into the age of pirates, she couldn't just be innocent and cute. She'd have to fight, too!"
"The image of Angelic Pretty is to look like a princess in a fairy tale,” explained Hiroko Honda, who founded her company after years of running a boutique. “I liked cute stuff and I got more ambitious and wanted to make my own brand." Today the company has two young designers, Asuka and Maki, who not only create designs featuring cupcakes and toys, but also represent the brand.
By the late 1990s, there was also a darker variant, known as Gothic Lolita, or Goth-Loli. Unlike the Classic and Sweet Lolitas who favor saccharine pastels, the Gothic Lolita dresses primarily in black, referencing Victorian mourning dress. Accessories, such as a coffin purse, have a morbid flavor. The Gothic Lolita style seems to have originated in Osaka and has always been closely associated with the musical genre visual-kei, whose bands wear elaborate costumes, which are copied by fans. Kazuko Ogawa, a designer from Osaka, created clothes for Mana, guitarist for the seminal visual-kei band Malice Mizer, before Mana established his own fashion brand, Moi-même-Moitié, in 1999. Mana told anthropologist Philomena Keet, “I added a dark element to the cuteness of Lolita."
Variants of the Gothic Lolita include the Elegant Gothic Lolita and the Elegant Gothic Aristocrat. Well-known Gothic Lolita brands include Black Peace Now, Atelier Pierrot, and h.NAOTO, especially h.BLOOD and h.ANARCHY. Alice Auaa is an outstanding Gothic Lolita brand designed by Yasutaka Funakoshi. In 1993, Funakoshi opened a shop in Kobe called Alice in Modern Time, featuring punk, new wave, and gothic styles. By 1997, he had established a new shop and a brand, both called Alice Auaa.
The street-fashion magazine FRUITS covered the Gothic and Lolita looks - and other youth styles - as did other periodicals such as CUTIE and KERA. In 2000, KERA published a special issue called The Gothic &Lolita Bible, which was soon a regularly issued periodical and is now widely available in the west. In addition to Classic, Sweet, and Gothic Lolitas, there are Black, Pink, White, Country, Punk, and Erotic Lolitas, as well as male versions such as Prince. Erotic Lolitas wear primarily red and black, often leather and/or vinyl, and usu- ally corsets. Wa-Lolis wear a combination of kimono tops and Lolita skirts, while Qi-Lolis wear Chinese-style tops. The development of these fashions was paralleled by the spread of manga-influenced art works often featuring girls wearing similar styles.
"The Lolita subculture occupies a complex place within both Japanese culture and international popular culture,” observes Theresa Winge, a professor of fashion and one of a growing number of commentators. To be a Lolita is not merely a question of clothing, but of an identity that is achieved through a “ritualized performance” involving poses and mannerisms that reinforce the aesthetic conveyed by a specific style of dress. When groups of Lolitas gather, for example, near the LaForet department store in Harajuku, it is evident that their shared aesthetic "visually communicates membership" in the Lolita subculture.
Cuteness extends far beyond the classic Lolita look to embrace a host of related styles, from the Himekei (“Princess style”) popular among pretty-in-pink, ultra-feminine Shibuya girls with lots of sparkly, cute and frilly accessories to the Decorakei ("Decoration style") popular in Harajuku, which is cute overload – with pink everywhere, with a plethora of cute accessories, such as multiple barrettes, tiaras, and bows decorating curled and dyed the hair. But what is the significance of all these cute styles? Why do so many young Japanese girls want to look hyper-cute? Sometimes dismissed as mindless "bad- girl" consumers, the members of Japan's style tribes may also, at least sometimes, express "an independent girls' culture." Certainly, girls' tribes are a conspicuous feature of the Japanese streetscape and their influence is spreading in a kind of "pink globalization".
Kawaii (cute) culture is pervasive in contemporary Japan. The most famous icon of cute is probably Sanrio's flagship character, Hello Kitty, which has been incredibly popular in Japan since its invention in 1974. Of course, this type of cute character appeals to children around the world, just as little girls everywhere seem to love cute, pink, sparkly clothes. But many Japanese remain fixated on cute- ness. “In Japan, even self-respecting adults will consider a Hello Kitty wedding,” and other cute characters, such as Hello Kitty's evil rabbit friend, Kuromi, decorate everything from airplanes to condoms and cell phones.63 Cuteness is just as much a part of the Gothic Lolita aesthetic, whose reigning mascots are h.NAOTO's characters HANGRY and ANGRY, stuffed animals, who have scars, eye patches, and blood stains, but remain as cute as can be.
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Misako Aoki is Japan's official Ambassador of Cute, and part of her job is "spreading Lolita style around the world." I asked her about the significance of cuteness in Japan and its relation to Lolita fashion. "In other countries, there are words like 'very cute'," she explained, "but they don't mean exactly the same thing as kawaii. 'Very cute' is a term to describe little girls and puppies, but 'kawaii' is a broader term. It doesn't just refer to small things. It can be used for Lolita fashion or even for an old man. If a little old man has a cute smile, he'd be kawaii. Foreign people now often use the word kawaii which is probably a sign that the idea is spreading.”
"Lolita embodies the feeling of kawaii," she continued. “Like any trend, Lolita style keeps evolving. Pink has the power to make girls look very cute, so that's probably why it's so popular. But recently, a sweets motif has become very popular. On my skirt, for example, there are images of cookies and candy. Animal prints like rabbits and bears are also rising in popularity. Even when I grow older, I want to retain the playful, girlish youthfulness that comes with Lolita style. Girls prefer being called cute [kawaii] rather than pretty or beautiful, because 'pretty' seems superficial, even a little cold, whereas kawaii is not just about your outer appearance, it's also about your heart."
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Lolita, one of the most popular subcultural styles found in the Harajuku area, can be seen as a counter-reaction to kogyaru style and others that evolved out it. It is a fashion style popular among those who think Shibuya style is too sexy or erotic and not feminine. It is usually worn by girls, and the predominant image is that of a Victorian doll; it presents an exaggerated form of femininity, with pale skin, neat hair, knee- or mid-thigh-length Victorian dresses, pinafores, bloomers, stockings, and shoes or boots.
Its substyles include Gothic Lolita (sometimes called Elegant Gothic Lolita), with a monochromatic palette; Classical or Country Gothic Lolita, with pastel colors; and Punk Gothic Lolita, with punk elements such as leather, studs, safety pins, zippers, and chains. Other Lolitas include Ama-Loli, with a basic Lolita look using mostly white; if pink is used, it is called Pink-Loli. When two girls wear exactly the same Lolita style, it is called Futago-Loli, which means Twin Lolitas. Wa-Loli is a combination of Wa – Japanese elements – and Lolita. The Lolita members are bound together by their stylistic expression and have created a subcultural community. They communicate face-to-face or online, they talk about different Lolita brands and discuss how to put together a particular Lolita look or how to make handmade Lolita items. They get together at weekends, take photos of each other and post them online, go to events and attend tea parties organized by Lolita fashion labels. They have created their own language and slang that is incomprehensible to outsiders, for example "LoliBra," which refers to a Lolita brand, or "Cardi," which is a cardigan.
An industry observer explained, "This is a explained, “This is a style that has been developing out of the cosplay phenomenon on the streets of Japan for the last ten years or so. The look has evolved and is slowly beginning to take roots in other countries around the world." Lolita girls are often mistaken as cosplayers who dress like their favorite characters in Japanese cartoons, but they insist that they are not. The Lolita girls and cosplayers often congregate in the same physical space - Jingu Bridge near Harajuku Station- and outsiders have no clue as to who is a cosplayer and who is not.
