Ametora How Japan Saved American Style

Look closely at any typically and#8220;Americanand#8221; article of clothing these days, and you may be surprised to see a Japanese label inside. From high-end denim to oxford button-downs, Japanese designers have taken the classic American lookand#8212;known as ametora, or and#8220;American traditionaland#8221;and#8212;and turned it into a huge business for companies like Uniqlo, Kamakura Shirts, Evisu, and Kapital. This phenomenon is part of a long dialogue between Japanese and American fashion; in fact, many of the basic items and traditions of the modern American wardrobe are alive and well today thanks to the stewardship of Japanese consumers and fashion cognoscenti, who ritualized and preserved these American styles during periods when they were out of vogue in their native land.

In Ametora, cultural historian W. David Marx traces the Japanese assimilation of American fashion over the past hundred and fifty years, showing how Japanese trendsetters and entrepreneurs mimicked, adapted, imported, and ultimately perfected American style, dramatically reshaping not only Japanand#8217;s culture but also our own in the process.

The story of how Japan adopted and ultimately revived traditional American fashion

Look closely at any typically "American" article of clothing these days, and you may be surprised to see a Japanese label inside. From high-end denim to oxford button-downs, Japanese designers have taken the classic American look--known as ametora, or "American traditional"--and turned it into a huge business for companies like Uniqlo, Kamakura Shirts, Evisu, and Kapital. This phenomenon is part of a long dialogue between Japanese and American fashion; in fact, many of the basic items and traditions of the modern American wardrobe are alive and well today thanks to the stewardship of Japanese consumers and fashion cognoscenti, who ritualized and preserved these American styles during periods when they were out of vogue in their native land.

In Ametora, cultural historian W. David Marx traces the Japanese assimilation of American fashion over the past hundred and fifty years, showing how Japanese trendsetters and entrepreneurs mimicked, adapted, imported, and ultimately perfected American style, dramatically reshaping not only Japan's culture but also our own in the process.

From a rising fashion historian, the story of how Japan imitated, assimilated, perfected, and ultimately saved traditional American fashion

W. David Marx is a writer on Japanese fashion, music, and culture. A former editor of Tokyo-New York street culture magazine Tokion, Marx holds a MA in Business and Commerce from Keio University in Japan, and received his BA in East Asian Studies at Harvard College, where he was Literary Editor for the Harvard Lampoon. Marx has contributed articles about Japan to American magazines including GQ, Harpers, The Fader, and Nylon; has written Japanese-language articles for the Japan Times and the well-known gentlemans lifestyle magazine Brutus; and has lectured on Japanese fashion and youth culture at University of Southern California, University of California, Los Angeles, Meiji University, and for Nike and the Economist.

Introduction

1. A Nation Without Style

2. The Ivy Cult

3. Taking Ivy to the People

4. The Jeans Revolution

5. Cataloging America

6. Damn Yankees

7. Nouveau Riche

8. From Harajuku to Everywhere

9. Vintage and Replica

10. Exporting Ametora