#109-2

[orakings]

Dowbl 2nd Anniversary Party pt.2

[orakings]

✯Brand Alert✯: Street brand Corvo designed by Yuuki Takei will begin to be carried in the shibuya men’s fashion mall 109men’s (109-2) beginning in April.

[harajuju]

A trip to 109 men's - The Wild Party continues

The last time I heard about 109 men's was back in April, through this article on Tokyo Telephone about the redesign. I couldn't be more excited about them ditching some of the garish excess and striking a more mature tone for the onii-kei mecca. It seemed like the perfect rebirth after Patrick Macias' 2010 obituary, and chimed well with Buffalo Bobs splitting off into three solid, also more mature, lines.

So what happened? Because something did. When I walked into the building this August I thought I must have gotten lost, or wandered into some annex - it couldn't be the same place Samuel described in April. Maybe the rise of ora ora intruded, or maybe 109 management wanted one thing and the shops wanted another. The fact is the mature trend didn't last.

  Faux-italiana abounded, from gaudy polo shirts to random italian tricolor sewn onto absolutely everything, like a Thom Browne from hell. Glad News was still selling as much pink leopard print as ever. Everything sparkled, and in the midst of all the silver and rhinestones, there was very little to tell you that you weren't back in the middle of the 2007 gyaru-o boom. 

Except hostwear didn't glimmer as much in 2007. This time it was all about metallic suits over metallic shirts, complimented with the shiniest metallic ties.

It was also daunting to see just how often items get copied and recopied by almost all the brands. It was impossible to tell whose studded high-tops came first, or whose wrinkled plaid shirt, whose asymmetrical shorts. After seven floors, you're not even sure what was where anymore. 

Nowhere was the resurgence of "outlaw style" more apparent than when I was on the fifth floor, caught between Jackrose, Lagust and Rhydeal, being stared down by skull prints, gun prints, skull-and-gun prints, skull-and-gun accessories, and some of the most orange salespeople I have seen upon this earth.

   And since I mentioned the salespeople: they are ruthless. It's impossible to walk around without hearing cries of "Nii-san! Nii-san!" calling you over. Just meeting eyes with a salesperson at the door is enough to get them going. "What are you looking for today? Come inside! We've got more items inside!".  

Once inside any shop I was followed around and urged to try on every single item I glanced at, getting a "Kore kakkoii ne, nii-san!" (This one's cool huh, nii-san!) whenever I picked something up. I don't think it's a sign of lagging sales this time - the building was packed - I think that's just how they're trained to act.

Leaving was even harder, as I had to explain several times that I didn't want to see anything else. Of course, you can always go with the Patrick Macias method: "meekly say “Sumimasen, sumimasen” and try and get the fuck out".  If you do try something on, expect to buy. At Crystal, I made the mistake of trying on this oxford shirt and saying I wasn't sure about the label on the front (which, by the way, is strikingly similar to the label on this Supreme oxford). The vendor was having none of it, and spent the next 10 minutes explaining how the label is the key point, proving it is authentic Buffalo Bob's and ensuring my success with the ladies. Then he showed me how I could hide it wearing coats.

All in all 109 men's feels more like an open-air market than a mall -- it's loud, messy and, frankly, a lot of it is junk. More importantly though, it's still as brash and gaudy as ever, showing the surprising resilience of onii kei, and even gyaru-o. Personally, I was looking forward to the "mature 109-2", but let's be honest here: there's plenty of better places to look for maturity than in a 109.

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[myjapanland]

Tell me this isn't unreasonably hilarious.

[harajuju]

Brand Focus: Buffalo Bobs

Ah, Buffalo Bobs. You've become quite the men's j-fashion darling as of late. You hardly resemble the Buffalo Bobs of just a year ago which I accused of blatantly stealing designs from luxury brands like Chanel and Louis Vuitton. No, today we see that you've cemented your footing that Samuel at Tokyo Telephone happily proclaimed you had "found" back in October.

Buffalo Bobs has overcome its split-personality by simply splitting itself into three separate brands under the umbrella of Buffalo Bobs.

Buffalo Bobs Noir: "Mode" style (this is a succinct way of saying that it attempts to emulate the feeling of high fashion and edgy trends)

Buffalo Bobs Crystal: Host-style.

Buffalo Bobs Originals: Denim and streetwear.

Buffalo Bobs Noir is the headliner right now. The subtitle of "Noir" fits the brand perfectly, combining a decidedly monochrome colour palette with drapes, a looser fit throughout and an overall feeling of "oppression". While this doesn't exactly sound enjoyable on paper, it is a feeling that translates to clothing very well. In a lot of ways it resembles a more domesticated version of Julius' vision of a post-apocalyptic grungy Tokyo, with a price point that makes experimentation a bit easier to attempt (even though Buffalo Bobs is beginning to sell more and more "premium" items).

Buffalo Bobs Crystal is the polar opposite of this, focusing on the rather unchanging ideal of host-style. Shiny suits, fur, glitter, and admittedly cheesy prints abounds. In my humble opinion, this is not a style that is aging particularly well, but those who love it will definitely find themselves feeling at home donned in Crystal wares.

Buffalo Bobs Originals is the most "normal" of the three brands; it focuses on basic streetwear. If it must be classified, I would say that gyaru-o would be the closest you could come to accurately describing it. Many of the previous Buffalo Bobs items fall into this category, and there are some new ones, including … this denim jumpsuit.

The fate of the standalone "Buffalo Bobs" branding isn't clear; many items are still being sold under that name on the official web shop, even though many other items were renamed. I suspect that this name will continue to encompass "general" items.

Buffalo Bobs has managed to do what a lot of 109-2 brands have neglected to do; they've widened their appeal away from their initial demographic without forgetting them (one of the best things about Buffalo Bobs is that they continually restock their most popular items). I don't doubt that Buffalo Bobs will continue its expansion into more styles as time goes on.

For now, it seems Buffalo Bobs has found its home in the darkness of noir.

Buffalo Bobs Official Web Shop

Buffalo Bobs on MBOK

Check out all our articles on Buffalo Bobs

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