Designers

Fairy Kei Fashion From the Streets of Harajuku – Strawberry Planet & Mello Brand Profiles

     Harajuku is known worldwide for its eclectic street fashion scene. There are hundreds of fashion genres, subgenres, & subcultures that have bloomed on these famous streets.

     One of the Harajuku styles that has reached “iconic’ status is fairy kei. Fairy kei fashion features rainbows of pastel colors, bright bows, and supercute accessories. Japanese fashion brands popular with fairy kei girls include 6%DOKIDOKI, Nile Perch, Spank!, and ManiaQ. In addition to the established brands, young Japanese designers also contribute their creativity to the Harajuku fairy kei scene. Two of these up-and-coming designers are Moco & Tomo, founders of the indie fairy kei fashion brands Strawberry Planet and Mello.

      Moco and Tomo are both students at Bunka Fashion College, Tokyo’s most prestigious fashion school. Moco is also a well-known blogger and personality in the Harajuku fashion scene. She has been featured in the pages of FRUiTS, Kera, and other magazines, as well as on countless Japanese street snap websites. Earlier this year, the duo launched their indie fairy kei fashion brands – Strawberry Planet and Mello. Mello is a fairy kei clothing line, while Strawberry Planet features cute colorful accessories to compliment the fashion coordinates.

        Currently, the collections are available via a monthly popup shop in Harajuku, as well as online. We visited a recent Strawberry Planet & Mello popup shop in Harajuku and sat down with Moco and Tomo for a short interview. Please have a look at our (English-subtitled) video to hear the designers talk about their fashion brands, the streets of Harajuku, and their future plans.

AvantGarde Harajuku Director w/ World’s Tallest Mohawk

     Japanese legwear shop AvantGarde Harajuku is one of the hottest shops in Harajuku right now. Several popular street fashion icons work at the shop (including Juria) and celebs from Japan and around Asia wear AvantGarde tights. The meteoric rise of the brand has been impressive, but the founder of AvantGarde has something else to be proud of as well – his Guinness Book of World Records-certified “World’s Tallest Mohawk”!

     This weekend, we spotted Kazuhiro-san on the streets of Harajuku with his super-tall hairstyle in all its glory. We weren’t the only ones who saw him, either. Kazuhiro-san is quite a personality, and he was having fun posing with crowds of amazed onlookers near the AvantGarde boutique.