Synopses & Reviews
Tokyo is home to the most creative and stylish fashion in the world. The Tokyo Look Book
takes us on a dazzling journey through the streets, clubs, and boutiques of this trend-setting city to introduce us to the people who wear the latest fashions and the people who make them. Crammed with cool, full-color photographs of Tokyo's trendy teens and twenty-somethings captured candidly as they work and play, this is a comprehensive look at the richly varied fashion scenes that thrive in Japan's capital city from the "gal" mecca of Shibuya, to the goths and cosplayers who hang out on Jingubashi bridge on Sundays, through the cutting-edge kids on the Harajuku backstreets, to the stylish young professional men and women on Omotesando Boulevard.
Yuri Manabe's distinctive photographic portraits are complemented by insightful text from British anthropologist and fashion expert Philomena Keet, who offers witty and informative background information on each of the fashion scenes introduced, and a plethora of soundbites and quotes from the
featured fashionistas. In addition, there are interviews and spotlights on Tokyo's hottest fashion designers, magazines and boutiques, including:
- Shibuya 109: Shibuyas iconic shopping mall
- Glad News: One of 109s leading boutiques
- Reiko Nakane: A former trendsetting charisma109 shop girl, now producer of her own fashion label
- Mana: Japanese pop star and designer of Elegant Gothic Lolita brand, Moi-meme-Moiteh.
- Naoto: Creator of the popular goth/punk brand
- Takuya Angel: Creator of the cult cyber-kimono brand
- Team Message: Designer of skate/streetwear brands
- Dog: Owner of a cult street-fashion boutique
- Shoici Aoki: Creator of the influential street-fashion magazine FRUiTS
- Garcia Marquez gauche: The husband-and-wife team behind this stylish brand for young women
- 5351 Pour Les Hommes: A fashionable mens brand
- Tokyo Fashion Week: A peek behind the scenes
- Mannenya: Purveyor of traditional Japanese workmen's outfits
Review
"From Goth to Gyaru, Japan's groundbreaking street fashion is rounded up in The Tokyo Look Book." --Elle
"[The Tokyo Look Book] showcases full-color photographs of the stylish set, but also interviews designers such as Naoyuki Ohira and members of the Goth rock band Moi- même-Moitié." --Womens Wear Daily
"The beautifully photographed book is notable not only for the great variety of looks it documents, but also for providing insight and background into the root of Tokyo street style and the individuals who constantly reinvent it. " --Fashion Wire Daily
"The Tokyo Look Book offers a colorful peek at what the kids are wearing these days on the sidewalks and catwalks of the capital city. Not only does she profile specific youth subcultures concentrated in a few celebrated districts, but she also turns a lens on the rest of Tokyo society." --Budget Travel (online)
About the Author
Philomena Keet is currently carrying out doctoral research into Tokyo street fashion with London University's School of African and Oriental Studies.
Yuri Manabe is a Tokyo-based photographer whose work has appeared in a variety of prestigious music and fashion magazines.