Interview by Jeff Carvalho and Nick Schonberger.
In the United States, we're really now realizing what streetwear and fashion is and it clearly relates to the people and cultural in the latter part of your book. I wanted to touch on what accounts for such a wide breadth of street fashion in Japan. A lot of things like the goth scene are linked more to a suburban mall culture in the United States. then street culture.
TG - I think that there are a few really strong roots that touch in a lot of the different kind of tribes of street culture. One of them is punk culture and how it has been re-interpreted and taken away from what it initially represented.
For the example the "Goth-Loli" culture has a very different definition here than it does in the United States. It has nothing to do with the American interpretation of goths.
I think there are a lot of ideas that are re-interpreted. Ideas are adapted and a lot have to do with music and the cultural icons that [people] may have. At the same time, they don't always symbolize the beliefs or the experience the people have here in Japan. In a way thats why so many different things are picked up here because it is really just image based.
The kids who end up in the magazines really represent that breadth. I wondered about the interaction between the "tribes" at street level? And, as a secondary thought, how much interaction is there among the leaders of the respective scenes?
TG - I think they're all very isolated and thats what is so interesting when I show the book to Japanese people. Everyone connects to a different section of the book. [They have] never seen them all together before. For every different [fashion] sensibility a different magazine exists. [Even] different superstar model, stylist , shop girl/boy, or opinion leader for that group.
They're very separate. Even within Harajuku you can have a Goth-Loli shop next to a Hip-hop type brand. But its all peaceful and no one makes fun of anyone. Everyone just does their own thing.
Why do you think thats the case as opposed to US culture where there is this dissent amongst different tribes. Why is there less of that in Harajuku?
TG - Because it's really 100% fashion driven. Its about the image and the clothing and is not coming from personal or political beliefs. That is why there are these adaptations of clothing items and even icons. It is purely from an aesthetic point of view [in the Harajuku district].
That seems interesting because if you look at what a lot of people consider the roots of the different subcultures... deeply rooted in belief. You're saying this is not the case for the Tokyo Street scene?
TG - I would say it is really about the way things look. And now with the growth of hip-hop culture, most of the kids that wear this hip-hop gear... i dont think for example that very recently it was about a look.
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Photo credit: Kai Regan.
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