Category Archive for La Carmina Clothing Line
HOPE JAPAN CHARITY T-SHIRTS ON SALE! LA CARMINA & SEBASTIANO SERAFINI CLOTHING DESIGNS, MANGA ANIME TEES.
Happiness…. our HOPE charity t-shirts to benefit Japan are available for sale! You can pick up our special design from the Like Atmosphere website (they’ll ship internationally).
Sebastiano Serafini and La Carmina co-founded the HOPE project, a t-shirt line with proceeds going to the victims of the Japan tsunami and earthquake. Various artists contributed designs, which were printed on superior-quality cotton by Japanese brand Like Atmosphere.
Our design (above), by Alice and the Cat (left), was inspired by Seba and Carmina. The artist says, “The concept is love. In difficult times, embrace and love one another, and let’s help to build a better future.”
The t-shirt has the striking HOPE logo, and a Goth-aristocrat manga drawing of Seba and me. Red, white and black colors symbolize Japan.
The HOPE family includes a range of styles. On the right, Sebastiano wears the “holding egg” t-shirt by Like Atmosphere.
Here, we’re modeling the “Glue-boy” tee by Ricardo Cavolo, “Hinomaru” shirt by Phuc Van Dang, and “Patched” by Like Atmosphere. All of these designs can be purchased online here.
I’m so pleased with how the photos turned out! The shooting took place in Milan, in a studio near the Duomo.
Carlo Travaglio of Context Productions was wonderful to shoot with. He worked fast, and rocked the colors and contrast.
He also works on fashion apps, videos, and other multi-media projects — very cool.
Let’s support Japan in style! We hope you’ll pick up our HOPE charity t-shirt here (ships internationally, PayPal accepted). Available in men and women’s sizes, M or L.
PS: if you send a photo of yourself wearing the shirt, we’ll put it on the Like Atmosphere site!
Thank you for supporting our nonprofit work. Big hugs if you can help us get the word out on the HOPE t-shirts — perhaps you could write a blog post or Facebook note? You’re free to use these images; just link back to www.lacarmina.com
What do you think about our HOPE charity t-shirt project? Have you been continuing to help Japan’s recovery?
Song of the Day: Anosphere – New Hope (I heart space disco.)
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LA CARMINA IN WOMEN'S WEAR DAILY: JAPANESE GOTHIC LOLITA ARTICLE, VALERIE STEELE WWD.
As Basil Farrow would say: “Wahh!” I’m in today’s Women’s Wear Daily – the fashion trade journal sometimes called “the bible of fashion” – quoted along FIT’s Valerie Steele and Japanese Goth author Tiffany Godoy!
The cover story is about dark glamour on the runways, the influence of Goth on couture, and the “Japanese take” that has “refreshed it.” Below is the section that quotes me; you can read the entire article on WWD.
Fall ’09 Japanese Goth Trend: Good Mourning
by VENESSA LAU
Posted WEDNESDAY MAY 06, 2009
From WWD ISSUE 05/06/2009
“Western Goth responds to a lot of religious imagery and potentially controversial connotations,” explains La Carmina, who’s made a career out of blogging about the Gothic Lolita culture on lacarmina.com. “Whereas in Japan, it’s just an aesthetic. It’s all visual, without the context.” She points to other examples of similarly co-opted looks: Japan’s popular rockabilly or American surf style. “Can you imagine?” remarks Carmina. “California-style board shorts — in Japan?” Even though the Gothic Lolita look isn’t exactly bum-rushing Western shores, it’s begun to filter over. The popular style guide “Gothic & Lolita Bible” — part fashion glossy, part McCall’s pattern book — just launched an English version last year. (Available at Barnes & Noble and Borders, spring 2009 is “The Wedding Issue.”) This August, the Japanese entertainment distributor VIZ Pictures is opening a multistory “J-Pop Center” in San Francisco, which will include a cinema, bookstore and Gothic Lolita shop. The sweet Lolita label Baby, The Stars Shine Bright, meanwhile, has announced plans to open up a store in that city as well. (There’s already one in Paris on 72 Avenue Ledru Rollin.) And Faoflex, an Italian eyewear company, is launching a line called Dandy’s Collection later this month, with one style dubbed Gothic Lolita.
Carmina herself is another example. The Vancouver native, with a BA from Columbia and a law degree from Yale, lives between New York and Tokyo, has a Goth cooking show on YouTube and just launched a capsule collection of Loli-Goth-style coats. Also in the pipeline: a collaboration with London Underground shoes and two book projects. “I go to Gothic club nights,” she adds, “and every single time, there are more and more people. It seems like things are only going to get bigger.” Come March 2010, GothLoli even goes Hollywood; Tim Burton is coming out with his own spin on “Alice in Wonderland.”
Some notes…
† The models are wearing designs by Jeremy Laing, Staerk, A la disposition, Sass + Bide, and others. No Japanese designers, sadly.
† The article mentions my upcoming collaboration with London Underground Shoes, a hot LA-based brand known for its Gothic, subculture-influenced designs. I haven’t mentioned this yet, but I’m working hard and can’t wait to tell you more… “wahhh!”
† The last bit in the article about people going Goth because of the sinking economy – ridiculous! The interviewer asked me the question, and my response was the same as Valerie’s.
Don’t forget to bookmark or subscribe to this blog… there’s much more in the works. How about photos of every floor of the new Marui One, Swimmer, Fairy Kei shops in Harajuku, Midnight Mess, a Death Cookbook episode, and a new project involving my Scottish Fold cat, Basil Farrow? All together now: “Wahhh!”
Song of the Day #108: Rammstein – Engel (one of my fav bands as a teen.)
LA CARMINA
