BCM320 DA – The Harajuku Diaries

If you had you asked me what Harajuku street fashion was a few months ago, I probably would have referred you to an early 2000s’ Gwen Stefani music video. If you had asked me a few weeks ago, I probably still would have struggled to explain what it is, in a clear, coherent manner. This week, I decided to bite the bullet and present to you, my experience trying to understand and recreate the very radical trend that is Harajuku street fashion… or at least my interpretation of it.

Reflection: 

Leading up to the production of this video, I spent quite a few weeks trying to wrap my head around the very concept of Harajuku Street fashion. Drawing on my proposal, I initially chose this subject as  I wanted to experiment with a visually stimulating cultural practice that was vastly different to my own.

While diving into the…

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A (not so easy) guide to: Harajuku Street Fashion

Following on from my last blog post, I can happily announce that progress towards my Harajuku street fashion project is well underway. How well underway you may ask? Let’s just say that I’ve had very little trouble stumbling down the rabbit hole of this certain fashion scene.

At the start of this project, my initial plan of attack was to identify what Harajuku street fashion was. Among countless Google searches, YouTube binges, and even Pinterest boards, it eventually became apparent to me that Harajuku street fashion wasn’t just a single genre. Instead, I began to understand it as an umbrella term used to describe a range of subcultures that fit under fashion styles that have emerged in the district of Harajuku. Upon arriving at this, I began to feel a little hesitant towards my subject and even questioned my ability to proceed with this project. What…

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Research Project: The Harajuku Diaries

Vogue, Marie Claire,Elle, Harper’s Bazaar. These are the few names that tend to pop into my head when I think of fashion. Dolce and Gabbana, Versace, Hermes. A showcase of tall, lean models clothed in jewel embellished gowns, tailored to perfection, holding their heads up high as they stride down long, flashing runways.

For myself, I’ve have always grown up viewing fashion from a purely Western/European perspective. Having learnt about “what’s in trend” from reading reputable magazines as mentioned above, high-end has always played a forefront in my perception of fashion and style. Like Miranda Priestly in the Devil Wear’s Pradawould say, fashion is an ever-growing industry – “one that represents millions of dollars and countless jobs“.

Now I’ve always considered myself to be a well-dressed individual. Minimal, polished, and as best put together as my student budget…

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My Neighbour Akira

I’ve always been quite familiar with the title of ‘Akira‘. Thanks to the few movie posters I had seen online, I was able to gauge that the film was an anime and that it featured motorcycles – but there ends my knowledge. Based on this information, I immediately assumed that the film was just another typical racing story, much like Speed Raceror Pixar’sCars. When I finally came around to watching the film in my BCM320, Digital Asia class however, I’d soon come to realise…

I was completely wrong. 

The minimalistic poster I’d come across time and time again. (x)

Not only had Akira absolutely shattered my pre-conceived idea of what the film was all about, but it also introduced me to a whole new genre of anime I’d never seen or experienced before.

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Hayao Miyazaki and his Studio Ghibli productions…

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Gojira – A fictional film with historical truth

** Warning spoilers

I grew up in a boisterous household. Unlike most Australian families, I grew up living in a house with my parents, two brothers, two uncle, an aunt, three cousins and my grandparents. We weren’t your typical next door neighbors. We were the loud, obnoxious Vietnamese family that lived right down the street. The former refugees that owned the Chinese takeout shop in the middle of town, and who you’d most likely find at church every Sunday.

Ethnically, I’m Vietnamese, but my nationality is Australian. As a child, I enjoyed an upbringing mixed with a western lifestyle heavily influenced by my South-East Asian heritage. For myself, my Asian background has always played a significant part in forming who I am today. It has influenced the way I act, my relationship with others, my interests and inevitably everything that makes up me. 

Me (light pink)…

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