TOKYO FASHION – Alternative is the norm.
In the first of our features on Tokyo, Editorista tells us how she experienced the fashion and youth culture: So I’m back, jetlagged and luggageless – but I’m bubbling over with awesome stories from my sejour…The best way for me to explain what I experienced in Tokyo is to put it down as it went through my head – as a constant comparison to how we live here in South Africa and Joburg in particular. I can’t help it, I’m fascinated by how some places are so quirky and how they work so well – I believe that our emerging economy and developing country has a lot it can learn from others who lead the way. Don’t forget that Japan was devastated in the Second World War and that they have rebuilt their society since then… Their real period of urbanisation and social change and reinvention came about in the mid 60s and 70’s – only 20 years after the war and atomic bombs. We’re on year 12 of our journey – interesting comparison to start with… Anyway – I digress… As you may or may not know, Editorista set off for a week to Tokyo searching for trends and generally finding out what it is that makes Tokyo peeps rock as much as they do. “I was totally overwhelmed, inspired and humbled by the Japanese people and the glowing, pulsing, moving city of Tokyo and I encourage anybody who’s vaguely interested in the East to start saving now! Forget the usual suspects when it comes to travelling and make sure to head on to Japan! Even though I’ve never been to the US and I probably stand corrected, I imagine New York must pale in comparison to this futuristic streamlined metropolis that is TOKYO or Edo as it used to be known. It’s futuristic, organised, clean, mind-boggling and endless. Go GO HAMBANI!” (PS: I’m sorry the site was a little boring and ‘under-updated’ in my absence but I promise that the next few stories of our TOKYO feature will more then make up for it. Ncesi.) First up, FASHION and the YOUTH CULTURE. Wow. There’s definitely lots of similarities and coherence between the originality and creativity of Tokyo youth and Jozi youth and I often found myself feeling right ekasi. But there are lots of differences as well. For one, the unemployment level in Japan has reached a shocking “5%” which everyone is up in arms about. Hah Hah. Try our stats for size. This means that most of the youth are employed and therefore have disposable income and a guaranteed job no matter what their education or background – so they get to live it up and spend money on getting creative and trendy...
We will be back!
