![]() ![]() What? There are already living Harajuku girls and boys ( as in from Harajuku & in the style)! This subculture is based on a high degree of gothy weirdness combined with the Japanese penchant for cuteness (called kawaii). (emphasis added - and it is interesting to note thatthe skin color can be changed, but not the features) ![]() ![]() You can even print out your own paper dolls to decorate your room or greeting cards featuring your Harajuku creation. Customize their eye and hair color, even their stage wardrobe, before printing out the dolls and bringing them to life. Turn you and your friends into Gwen and her Harajuku Girls. ![]() I though others had covered it all, until I recently saw a click-through ad for a partnership between Stefani and HP to create my own customized Harajuku girl. As MiHi Ahn puts it in Salon: “Gwen Stefani neuters Japanese street fashion to create spring’s must-have accessory: Giggling geisha!”. The basics of this story are not new: general cultural commodification combined with racialized doll-silence. In music, many have come before - from Elvis to Madonna. Gwen’s co-optation (or misappropriation) of Japanese style, specifically the street styles of the Harajuku district of Tokyo, may be a specific example of the use of another culture’s cues and objects to make money for one’s self but not the originating culture. Susan Scafidi’s summary of Gwen Stefani’s post-No Doubt career at Counterfeit Chic is incisive precisely because the lack of originality shown. “Love the culture? Write a song about it. ![]()
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