La Moda Giapponese

via brunoagostinho

La moda giapponese si presenta ai più come uno spettacolo di teatro Kabuki: chiassosa, esagerata ed incomprensibile. Questo è il messaggio che le famigerate Harajuku Girls passano, quasi con aria di sfida, ad un Occidentale che ancora ama stupirsi di fronte alle stranezze Made in Japan. Spesso si ricordano i grandi nomi nipponici della moda, come Rei Kawakubo e Issey Miyake, mentre meritevoli stilisti emergenti restano purtroppo ancora ignoti al grande pubblico. Ponte tra tradizione e modernità, la moda giapponese accetta il suo passato per affrontare con grinta il futuro, in linea con lo spirito nipponico che con grande coraggio riesce a superare anche i momenti più tragici, ultimo tra i quali il Terremoto di Tohoku. Tessuti che richiamano la ricchezza di preziosi Kimono, tagli concettuali che invocano una profonda austerità, propria della cultura giapponese, che però ben volentieri si sposa con innovazione ed high-tech. Mai scontata, sempre sconvolgente, questa è la moda giapponese.

My thoughts on Japanese fashion in 1000 characters, posted as a comment on VOGUE Italia Editor Franca Sozzani's blog, in which she is asking readers to describe what they thinks about Japanese fashion. Not my best, but expressing what I think about Japanese fashion in 1000 characters is quite challenging.  

Grande Giove.

GRANDE GIOVE

If you love Back to the Future as much as I do and happen to have a couple (or possibly more) thousand dollars laying around, go and bid for a pair of those limited edition Mag Nike shoes here.

And don't feel guilty, it's a charity auction.

Mod&The City

Back in Italy after a short vacation in Sweden, and now getting ready London. But, before that, I'll be spending about 10 days in Munich and experience for the first time the mayhem of Octoberfest. Wish me good luck.
Anyway, the following pictures perfectly express what I'll be expecting from this autumn: city life and mod, a LOT of mod.
Furthermore, Karlie Kloss styled by Giovanna Battaglia equals perfection. Pictures as seen on VOGUE Japan September 2011.




















That Prada dress and that Issey Miyake coat are beyond fabulous.


via Fashiongonerouge.com

My own design comes to life ~ Shoes of Prey Leopard Booties

I was awoken by a rather long earthquake today (epicenter was in Iwate, please can you just leave them alone, Mother Nature?), and a few minutes later mailman knocked my door and delivered me a package containing a lovely surprise... A new pair of shoes!

A few weeks ago I designed a pair of ankle booties on Shoes of Prey, a website that allows costumers find their perfect order-made pair of shoes. It's great for those girls like me, who are always looking for the perfect pair of shoes but can never ever find anything near what they have in mind. I'm absolutely picky when it comes to shoes, as I pay way too much attention to material, design, particulars, comfort and so on. I don't buy too many shoes because it's quite hard for me to find shoes that actually meet my standards but I was pleasantly surprised by Shoes of Prey.

Here's the design...

Hair - Leopard, Suede - Black, 8.8cm Heel

And here's what I got! Sweet, right?

Tatami mats and leopard shoes. Yeah.

The shoes came in a sleek black box, containing a dust bag, paddings and two types of heel cushions and a picture of the shoes I designed. I love how Shoes of Prey wants their shoes to be as comfortable as possible and perfectly fit the costumer's feet, as you can also specify wether your feet is on the wide side.

The quality of the shoes is really nice and they seem to be really easy to walk in, as the heel is not too high (I chose a 8.8cm height, but you can get taller heels as well) and the platform makes things even better. Another bonus point is that Shoes of Prey only uses genuine leather, which is just the best for your feet.

Now, let's talk about the design itself. I am a big animalier fanatic, and as it seems that the whole trend won't fade anytime soon, I chose to use a leopard print for my shoes. I imagined myself wearing those shoes paired with a simple, possibly monocolor, outfit so the leopard print would pop and define my style.

Check Shoes of Prey website out and design your own, unique dream shoes, and fell in love like I did with my leopard ankle booties.

Snap snap I'm snapping at you.

It's summer here in Tokyo. Me and my fellow Tokyo people are battling the horrible humid summer heat. Looking good in such a weather is quite a challenge, but we still manage to be fab all the time. However, my bangs (yes, I got bangs back in Italy) become quite disgusting from time to time, but no worries, nothing that a shower cannot fix. Showering is the big thing, this summer. hehe.

I've purchased this lovely Cacharel for UNIQLO t-shirt a couple days ago. The print was just screaming my name, I had to get it. I'm all about bold prints lately.

Picture taken by mighty MARIE [BLOG]

Via be.com

By the way, make sure to check out my VOGUE Japan blog, Marie and I have been taking fashion snaps around our university, Waseda University. We are taking snaps of Japanese and International students, boys&girls. I'm really enjoying this experience, as it's quite refreshing for me to focus on street fashion from time to time. I do love high fashion, but as a 20-something student without a steady income I can easily relate to street fashion. BUT, I'm a dreamer, and my dreams are made of Chanel and Alexander McQueen (old school McQueen, thx).

WASEDA GIRLS fashion snaps Part 1
WASEDA BOYS fashion snaps Part 1

Gyaru Anna

via Jak&Jil Blog

Anytime I see this AdR picture I think of those gals who walk the streets of Shibuya, and their phone charms. Gloomy Bear's bloody paw and the Cheshire Cat's psychedelic tail were huge among them, and resemble this beautiful Prada fur (yet, I still don't know how I feel about real fur). Big fat furry charms on Shibuya Gals' cell phones and fluo fur for AdR.

Gimme some Opium.

Dude.
Seems like someone is obsessed with YSL latelty. Truth is that I'm not, but I still believe that everybody should be obsessed with YSL in general.

When I was a kid I used to be fascinated by Opium, the Yves Saint Laurent iconic scent. Kiddo Alice would run to the bathroom and smuggle some Opium. That big, bold and exotic looking flask was just too attractive to me. I still remember holding it. And perhaps spraying it on my clothes feeling like the fairest of the ladies under the mannish bob I had to keep for many years. Back then, I could have been disguised as a boy, an incredibly handsome boy, but still a boy. I had a decent collection of miniature perfumes and samples. Lots of shapes and scents, that kept me busy for many hours. Sometimes I used them to "wash" the bathroom: every tile with a different perfume, resulting in a nauseous smell. But then, there it was. Winking at me in all its glory. Someday the perfume was over and the flask finally gone. The thought of the scent itself was gone as well, and I grew up and forgot about Opium and its world.
But, out of nowhere, the memory of Opium is back, and once in a while I know what to buy for my mother, who was patient enough to let me waste her perfume when I was a kid. Still, I don't feel like calling it "a total waste", since it gave me so much, even though I cannot say what I gained from years of sniffing Opium. And yes, I'm talking about the perfume, you silly!

On a side note for my future partner in crime that I have yet to meet: I demand a flask of Opium for my 30th birthday. I will be ready for it, then. To quote BRITNEY SPEARS (Yes, I just did it), I'm not a girl not yet a woman. I'll be a woman the day I'll be wearing Opium.




Pic via stsfragrance.com

YSL Manifesto 2011

If you are lucky enough to be in one of the following cities, New York, Milano, Paris, London, Hong Kong, Los Angeles or Tokyo, make sure to grab your copy of Yves Saint Laurent, which will be distribuited an original tote bag. Just make sure to be in the right place at the right time. Don't forget to grab a Manifesto for me as well, I think I deserve it.

Image via Vogue.it

This is the third year in a row I miss the Manifesto. I'm missing out way too much this month in Tokyo. Ah, so much for some rest.