Not only was the song awesome, but the music video left me wanting more. This is where the Harajuku Girls came into play. Gwen had recruited four Asian women to be part of her solo image, aka the Harajuku Girls. Each girl had a nickname: Love, Angel, Music, and Baby. Their image was what I considered to be modern, fun Japanese fashion. Turns out that my thoughts on that was pretty damn accurate.
In Tokyo, Harajuku is referred to an area around Harajuku Station where young people gather to socialize and dress in many different styles, including gothic lolita, cosploy, punk, hip hop, among others. It is also widely known as the fashion capital of the world and many fashion designers started their careers in that area. As for fellow Americans like myself, the term "Harajuku Girls" was created to refer to teens that dressed in the fashions in Harajuku.
Going back to Gwen's Harajuku Girls. They were such a hit that they developed their own following, shortly picked up by the retail world. Gwen had her own fashion line established, but added the "Harajuku Lovers" line. It included clothing, dolls, cameras, cell phone charms, and fragrances.
When I saw this ad for the first time in 2008, I was jumping up and down with excitement! I *** HAD *** to have the collection! So naturally, I ask for it for my birthday/Christmastime. I did not recieve them, but that's ok. When working at Cargo Largo, I came across some of them and ended up purchasing one of the scents for less than ten bucks. Shortly after, a Harajuku Lovers watch. I now own 3 of the 5 scents, thanks to Target picking up the line and then clearancing out a couple of them (I thrive on finding stuff on clearance... hey, if I can save money then that's an added bonus).
This summer, as I was taking my son school supply shopping at Target, I come across an amazing find:
Harajuku Lovers school supplies??? NO WAY!!!! Of course, this was before I was hired at my current job so I could not splurge :-(
However....
Several hours ago, while just walking around at the Target on State Line, I found some of the supplies on a clearance endcap. Yes, I bought them. Did I need them? No, but I wanted them. Besides, I spent less than $3 so I don't feel that was worthy of feeling guilty about my impulse purchase.
I am just in love with the whole Harajuku phenomenon (for the lack of a better word). One of these days, I will actually dress this way, to make myself look good and (yes I admit it) to make some of my close guy friends drool, hehe. I also would like to go to Tokyo someday and venture around the Harajuku area.
I heart Harajuku!!!
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