the Harajuku District and Harajuku Fashion

I guess it's Harajuku week!
It wasn't intended, but here we are, I guess!

The Harajuku District is a district in Tokyo, Japan, known for being the center of Japanese fashion and Japanese youth culture. Takeshita Street, or Takeshita Dori, is the street that is lined with the most shops, thrift stores, boutiques, and food stores, and is the focus of the Harajuku District.

Harajuku has shops for every type of fashion under the sun, from Mori (forest inspired clothing),to Goth, to Lolita, to Visual Kei, to Fairy Kei, to Gyaru, to Decora. Harajuku has shops for all kinds of extravagant and alternative styles.

Originally a village for samurai, Harajuku's history in fashion began after WWII, during this Allied occupation of Japan. During the occupation American and other foreign soldiers lived in army barracks in the Harajuku District. Shops that appeal to the Westerners in the area were opened.

Japanese youth were very curious about these foreign peoples and their cultures, so they would come to look at the western goods that were in Harajuku at the time. Fashion designers eventually realized that they could capitalize on this curiosity and the area, and opened up shops in Harajuku.

The off-brand misfits shirt is really cracking me up...

Then, the Olympic Games came to Japan in 1964, and the Athletes were housed in the former army 
barracks, which drew large crowds to the Harajuku district, which made business boom in the shops that were already there. This made designers and shop owners interested in the area. In 1978, a mall was opened, and by this time Harajuku was the ideal place for fashion businesses and designers to be.

Ever since the 1970's, Harajuku and its fashion have been steadily growing. Harajuku is home to many different styles, and the origin to loads of street styles. Many of the styles have escaped Japan, and spread to the US, much of Europe, and other countries.

Harajuku fashion seems to put an emphasis on bright colours and accessorizing, but other fashions such as Goth and Mori are popular, despite not following the "brightly coloured" trend.

Have a great weekend and, as always, creep it real!

Si