FASHION REVIEW: H.NAOTO’S TOKYO RUNWAY COLLECTION FOR AUTUMN/WINTER 2008.

GOTHIC LOLITA FASHIO... CHRISTINE MISIAK...

Posted by La Carmina on March 17, 2008

Counting the days until the return of Project Runway? Here’s a sorry substitute – the Committee Clothing Critique is back! This time, Ronan and La Carmina argle bargle over h.NAOTO’s Fall/Winter 2008 runway show at Japan Fashion Week. I’m a Goth Loli obsessive; he’s a snarky fashion know-nothing – so put away your tomatoes and enjoy the show!

h.NAOTO runway show at Japan Fashion Week 2008.
CARMEN: I want to snuggle up in that fiery red shrug.
RONAN: Help, mommy, it burns, take it away!

h.NAOTO runway show at Japan Fashion Week 2008.
CARMEN: Aww, Basil wore a similar bonnet!
RONAN: What, did she fall into a laundry machine? Actually, the little stuffed animal of indeterminate species is pretty cute, so there’s a redeeming quality.
CARMEN: Kawaii! That’s Angry, a Goth cat that kills other cats. She stabs them with a giant sword. That’s why she’s covered in blood.
RONAN: I like it. Just be sure to crop out the clothes next time.

h.NAOTO Hangry and Angry Gothic Lolita cats.
RONAN: So, moving on from the laundry room to the… wool shop?
CARMEN: More animals of indeterminate species.
RONAN: Indeed. Everything’s very… hairy, here.
CARMEN: I don’t know about the pink Sasquatch getup, but I am oddly drawn to the feather-like coattails. I’d wear that jacket.

Visual kei fashion by Hirooka Naoto at Tokyo Fashion Week, fall/autumn 2008 collection.
RONAN: Aaaand, again with the hair! Not real fur in this day and age, I hope!?
CARMEN: One day, Basil will wake up bald.
RONAN: Noooo, not our poor kitty! Leave him alone! He’s not a gothic loli cross dresser and he’s not a potential fur coat!

Goth and visual kei runway show in Japan.
CARMEN: Those pants must have taken forever to lace up.
RONAN: Seriously. Now that’s commitment.
CARMEN: I must say, I’m drooling over the military number on the right. A double row of buttons gets me every time.
RONAN: The one on the right is the best of the bunch, I’ll give you that. If you stripped off the layers of fashion barnacles she’s festooned with, that military dress/coat could be quite acceptable. Stylish even! Imagine!

Japanese runway collection by designer Hirooka Naoto.
CARMEN: The dreadlocked hair goes with the homeless vibe, I guess.
RONAN: I like the one moving away from the camera on the right, with her thick funereal-looking mantilla.
CARMEN: Me too. I’m going to wear that at my Goth wedding.
RONAN: That’d go over well with your club kid pals.

Crazy Japanese fashion show with Harajuku streetwear.
RONAN: Okay, I sort of dig the long thingy that looks like it’s trying to be a coat on the left. I mean, the collar is stuck firmly in fashion-as-impractical-art mode, but the rest of it has a certain charm.
CARMEN: I dig the Count Dracula collars.
RONAN: There you go, we just clash again and again!
CARMEN: What’s impractical about that? It keeps the vampires away!
RONAN: It looks ludicrous, Carmen!
CARMEN: Protects your neck!
RONAN: Why do you think I carry such a thorough supply of garlic and stakes at all times? So I can avoid wearing collars like that.