So I’d been thinking about what appealed to me about Kate’s art and designs and I guess it had a lot to do with the crazy colours and how she seemed to not take things too seriously. Looking at the style she enjoys to put forth in her art, made me think of the Japanese streetfashion that is depicted in FRUITS, so I went and bought myself one of the books to look through.. Also, after I researched a bit on Neo-Tribalism, something Kate seemed to emphasize a lot on, I figured it is really relevant to my inspiration.
“Neo-Tribalism is a modern sociological phenomenon that has developed in response to civilization, or the modern corporation/state society, wherein smaller social groupings of like-minded or themed communities are formed. These smaller groupings, loosely referred to as tribes, are bound by common practices, values, beliefs or goals, with varying degrees of adherence to traditional tribal practices ranging from the purely aesthetic to the radically orthodox. The key delineating factor of Neo-Tribalism is the commonality that binds the tribe together.” – opendemocracy.net
Having been to Japan before and been quite a Japanophile for a few years, I had made it a point to go to Harajuku in Tokyo when I was visiting there, to take in the people and their clothes as they mingled and/or loitered around the Jingu Bridge just outside the Harajuku JR Line. If seeing all these people, united in a common way of thinking/dressing does not spell out Neo-Tribalism, I don’t know what does…
The stuff in there is AMAZING! I can’t believe some of the combinations these people come up with! Half of them seem to be on acid trips(I mean that in a good way..) when they’re getting dressed or something and i LOVE IT! 😀
Anyway, here are some photos I’m getting from the internets:
Pikachu, strawberries, fur legwarmers.. omg
Even their hair is awesome!!
Look at the colours!!
So, basically, I’d like to work with the idea behind FRUITS streetstyle. This is a definition I found:
“Inititially, a Japanese magazine showcasing Tokyo street fashion that later evolved into a fashion genre all it’s own. Often mistaken for kandee kid ravers, fRuIts are identified by bright colors in hair and clothes, flamboyant to subtle makeup, cutesy inclinations that mimic cartoon or anime characters, and intricate, mismatched clothes that somehow form a coherence in the lack of one. Colorful legwarmers, platform shoes, temporary tattoos of cherries, cat ears, bright wigs, and beaded jewelry are all common in the fRuIts style. There are more female fRuIts than male, however, there are plenty of male fRuIts around in Tokyo Male fRuIts are often less photographed and thus less known than the females; this is mostly due to the fact that the female fRuIts appear more flamboyant and interesting than the males. As opposed to most Tokyo street fashions, fRuIts mostly accumulate their style from themselves and homemade items rather than buying them already made at the stores. This is mostly due to the great emphasis on self-expression through complete randomness. Fruits don’t necessarily have guidelines to follow like other Tokyo street fashions. Instead, the fRuIts style is simple to identify when seen amongst other fashions because it is so unique.” – urbandictionary.com
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