Year Archive for 2008
INTERVIEWS WITH KOKUSYOKU SUMIRE, H.NAOTO, BABY THE STARS SHINE BRIGHT.
I subscribe to Google News Alerts to keep track of articles about Goth Loli (anyone else do the same? ) Most of the time, the mentions are very general and not worth blogging about. Today’s an exception: North Carolina news site WRAL.com posted a comprehensive write-up called Tokyo Lolita subculture thumbs nose at growing up. 80% of the information can be filed under “Lolita 101,” but the remaining 20% consists of insightful quotes and nightlife photos (by David Guttenfelder of the Associated Press).
The talented musicians of Kokusyoku Sumire are profiled; the group is called by its English name, Black Pansy, but I think the correct translation is Black Violet. “People notice us – we stand out,” reflects lead vocalist Sachi. “The pure, girl-like world inside of me, that is what Lolita is all about.”
h.NAOTO designer Hirooka Naoto describes the appeal of kawaii chic: “I think many Japanese women feel intimidated by high fashion in the West and feel that they can never live up to the refined beauty that they feel Western women strive for. So, instead, they shoot for a cute look, one that doesn’t require tall, curvaceous bodies and instead emphasizes girlishness.”
“One of the salient points about Lolita is that it is really a fashion that is not intended to attract men,” Naoto adds. “The women are creating their own world into which they can get away from the pressures of the larger society.” As for the various subcategories of Lolita: “It is very ambiguous. Sometimes I’m not sure what qualifies.”
The article ends by discussing the growing popularity of Gothic Lolita abroad. Baby, the Stars Shine Bright is preparing for a show in San Francisco, and h.NAOTO is testing the waters of Los Angeles. BTSSB co-founder Fumiko Isobe (and wife of Akinori Isobe, who was immortalized in Kamikaze Girls) comments: “I don’t know if we can ever really hope to conquer foreign markets. But I think Gothic Lolita is the best example there is of the ‘Tokyo look.’ We are really on the edge.”
You can read the rest of the article here. What are your thoughts on it?
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NEO ROCOCO HOME DECOR: MODERN LEGO FURNITURE, HEATWAVE ROCOCO RADIATOR.
Day Two of Interior Design Week continues with several modern takes on 18th century forms. These pieces are admittedly concept-heavy works of art rather than usable household goods. But the Rococo aesthetic is not exactly a grounded one, n’est-ce pas?
Exhibit A: Staffan Holm and Johannes Tjernberg’s CEO desk. “We created the desk bound by the structural laws of LEGO-building bricks, combined this with the grace of the late Rococo furniture style and painted it glossy black to evoke feelings of exclusivity and power.” Made of solid beech and painted with enamel, the desk is a study in contrasts: ancien curves and modern materials, innocent child and cut-throat executive. (Sure, you might find neo-Rococo forms at Ikea – but they’re like empty vessels. It’s the philosophy that we silly design addicts open our wallets for…)
Exhibit B: Smånsk’s “Neo Rococo” side table and chest of drawers. The Stockholm designers simplified ornate details into their most basic forms: “We lowered the resolution and numbers of polygons in models of authentic rococo furniture.” The result: modern, pixelated versions of period furniture.
Similarly, SalaD’s Che mangino brioche table and floor lamp (above) “blend Rococo opulence with digital austerity.” Joris Laarman’s “Heatwave” is a radiator sculpted from ornate Rococo swirls of concrete. “Like all good designs, Heatwave scored high marks both for form and function: stylistically capturing the romantic mood of the moment, and conducting heat more efficiently than a conventional metal radiator.”
Some of you asked for sources of inspiration; one of my favorite contemporary design/architecture sites is MoCoLoco. And keep checking La Carmina – many more neo-Rococo designs will be posted this week.
LA CARMINA
