I did a post about my daily life, I wrote a bit about Japan now it's time to talk about some Japanese fashion! There's been good coverage about the "decline/evolution" of gyaru on blogs like UniversalDoll, Snellkopan, tumblr etc. With looks melding with more mainstream styles, the end of gyaru magazines like Egg and Ageha, and less pronounced or diverse styles on the street. It's hard for me to comment on street fashion since I haven't been to Japan for so long, and I just follow the Japanese styles and bloggers whose taste I enjoy.
My tastes have quite changed from the years I was devoted to tutuHA and rock/goth gyaru. I still enjoy Shibuya brands tho. And the one I pay most attention to lately is called Swankiss.
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| Saaya (2nd from right) and shopstaff on the ends in AW14 items |
About Swankiss
Swankiss is a brand that if I'm categorizing I'd put them somewhere between Liz Lisa and one*spo. They focus on girly and cute elements and designs. I like their attention to detail, though maybe it's often too decorated for me to pull off. They were established in early 2013 and managed by BAR company. There are currently 2 shops: one in Shibuya 109 and the other in Osaka OPA.
Swankiss is a brand that if I'm categorizing I'd put them somewhere between Liz Lisa and one*spo. They focus on girly and cute elements and designs. I like their attention to detail, though maybe it's often too decorated for me to pull off. They were established in early 2013 and managed by BAR company. There are currently 2 shops: one in Shibuya 109 and the other in Osaka OPA.
They have amazingly charismatic shopstaff (Hikapu particularly has a strong following) and their producer is Saaya Hayashida who is very diligent with her social media presence.
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| Source |
Swankiss recently held an exhibition to reveal their AW 2014 line to the press and models. The items will be hitting the store shelves around August, but it never hurts to start imagining your fall wardrobe now haha.
The theme of their AW line is "Poo Doll" which is a bit arresting at first for an English native, but I think they are trying to create a cute phrase out of "Poodle" which is featured in the items (It may be a trend this autumn as I've seen poodle images used by Katie's and Milk's AW14 items too)
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| All the following from here |
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| I think these shoes are delightful! |
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| Poodles evident in the accessories |
There's still a lot of cute light colored items, but you can see a nice mix of dark colors and rich autumn like patterns. They are also bringing in some red and mustard yellow which are traditional colors. It will be exciting to see more of it, I appreciate their use of pastel colors and the cuts look very adorable.
Do you like Swankiss? Or what Brand do you follow most closely? I will be posting about Katie's AW Exhibition too, and maybe Titty&co and Lillily too!
And don't miss out on seeing Swankiss and Saaya Hayashida in person!!
Saaya Hayashida will be presenting Swankiss in a fashion show this year at Anime Expo in LA. Make sure to go if you can, and they are taking applications for models even! Kimura U with her new brand KokoKim, Golds Infinity and Ghost of Harlem will also be there, check out this page for more info.
Saaya Hayashida will be presenting Swankiss in a fashion show this year at Anime Expo in LA. Make sure to go if you can, and they are taking applications for models even! Kimura U with her new brand KokoKim, Golds Infinity and Ghost of Harlem will also be there, check out this page for more info.
