Press Pen: Japan Fashion Now Symposium Tweets

Dear Pennies,

Check out my tweets from the Japan Fashion Now Symposium which give you an excellent play by play and recap of the Symposium. I’ve also added pics from the slideshows to illustrate the tweets. Also, please follow me on Twitter (@LoudPen), I always tweet during events so you can get up to the minute updates.

• The current speaker is talking about modernity in Japanese Fashion. His name is Toby Slade. In fact he has a book on it (Modernity in Japanese Fashion).
• There’s a new speaker on stage. Hiroshi Narumi and he’s discussing Japaneseness in #fashion. Interesting pics in his slide show! #FIT
• It has everything from Japanese hippies to Japanese surfers. It’s really cool how they take Western dress and flip it to make it their own
• I do think they should have done more panels instead of just speakers talking at the audience. Panels are more engaging. #FIT #fashion
• The newest speaker is Dr. Brian McVeigh. He’s discussing Fashion & how cuteness and uniformity have affected Japanese culture.#fashion #FIT

• Back at the #FIT event. Patricia Mears is speaking on Formalism and and Revolution by deconstructing Rei Kawakubo & Yohji Yahamoto #fashion
• Miki Higasa is here representing Comme des Garcons and Rei Kawakubo. I didn’t know much about Rei but she sounds like an interesting woman

• The best thing ab the convo b/t Patricia Mears & Miki Higasa were the personal revelations about Rei. The best thing? Rei’s design inspiration is Madame Gres. Very interesting. I may have guessed Vionnet since she created the bias cut. #fashion
• The current speaker is Dr. Sharon Kinsella. She’s discussing cuteness and Lolita #fashion. If u’ve seen Japanese fashion it most likely was Lolita or Gothic Lolita. This #fashion is inspired by ‘cuteness’, ‘Hello Kitty’, and ‘Victorian dolls’. It’s a very interesting scene.

Day 2:

• Back at #FIT for the Japanese Fashion Symposium. Dr. Laura Miller is discussing Japanese girl culture & perverse cuteness. #fashion 

  

• Meanwhile Dr. Yuniya Kawamura just spoke on Japanese Subculture. She really gave an in depth talk on Lolita especially.#fashion #FIT 

  

• Masafumi Monden is now speaking on #Japanese men’s #fashion. Very interesting. Their styles vary extremely. Especially amongst youth #FIT
• The interesting thing about #Japanese men’s #fashion is the difference in magazines. Younger men read very stylish magazines that feature street style and recent trends. Older men’s magazines use European men as subjects and as models. These magazines are very conservative. #fashion #FIT 

  

• Oh and even crazier one magazine prefers Western models, another magazine likes half Japanese half European, and another only uses full Japanese models. #fashion #FIT 

  

   

   

  

• Now Dr. Joanne Eicher and Kathryn Earle are going to speak on the Encyclopedia of World #fashion with an emphasis on  #Japanese #fashion #FIT
• Additionally, Kathryn Earle is talking about the Berg #fashion library. It’s a special library on the history of #fashion and dress. #FITJFN
• Fyi: since I’m sending tweets about it, I shortened Japan Fashion Now at FIT to #FITJFN
• Tiffany Godoy is the author of a book called Style Deficit Disorder. She’s doing a virtual tour of Tokyo’s shopping scene. #FITJFN #fashion
• The interesting thing is that the shop girls and boys live their lives around #fashion. One shop boy spends $800 a month on clothes! #FITJFN
• There’s an array of places to shop. U can hit boutiques and re-sell shops. Some re-sell shops are dept stores. There’s also big international brands but those aren’t considered cool by youth. #Japanese #fashion is about individuality and doing your own thing. #FITJFN
• So Tiffany did an awesome presentation. She showed us the best shops of Tokyo. And there’s history behind every store! #FITJFN 

  

• Like in Koenji (a  #Japanese neighborhood) the shops are owned by people in their 20s. They style their shops according to what they carry. One shop carries 90s #fashion and is anti high #fashion. They think it’s obvious and unoriginal. #FITJFN
• The current speaker is Dr. Miwako Tezuka. She’s talking about the artist Yoshitomo Nara. This has nothing to do with #fashion but it’s ok, I guess. I only stayed for h. NAOTO and Valerie Steele. That will be dope. For those who don’t know Hirooka Naoto is a #Japanese designer and Valerie Steele is the director of #FIT‘s museum. She’s also an author. She’s like the brains behind #fashion #FITJFN
• h. NAOTO has built a #fashion empire in Japan. He collaborates with #Japanese artists. He has about 4 brands under the h. NAOTO company #FITJFN
• Here’s an example of one of h.NAOTO’s brands ‘Hangry and Angry’ http://plixi.com/p/55143860
• Hirooka showed pieces from the SS2011 collection and the new runway show. I got a preview video of the show. Very intricate #fashion #FITJFN
• Words can’t describe how dope Hirooka’s video/presentation is. This dude is innovative! #Japanese #fashion #FITJFN
• It’s funny b/c Hirooka only speaks a little English. And Valerie Steele just asked him a tough question. He sighed loudly then answered #FITJFN
• She wanted to know why he modeled his brand after Gothic/Punk styles when he’s not into that himself. He said he was more inspired by Gothic styles. He found Comme des Garcons to be odd. Gothic/punk style was new, fresh and different. #Japanese #fashion #FITJFN
• h. NAOTO is all about Gothic, Punk, and Lolita like style. It’s not rooted in these styles but it’s inspired by them. #Japanese #fashion 

  

   

   

  

• Meaning h. NAOTO uses elements of Goth, Punk, and Lolita but it’s not fully Goth, Punk, and Lolita. The use of draping, layering, and the silhouettes make it different. Hirooka says that the brand will stay Goth, Punk, and Lolita but will change for future generations.
• So the Symposium is over. It ended on an awesome note. I got a great interview w/ Hirooka. #fashion #FITJFN

And there it is. The Fashion and Style of the Pen…de la Pen.