Decora fashion, which gained popularity in street snaps and magazines centered around Harajuku in the late 1990s, is once again drawing attention on the streets.
Decora fashion is characterized by wearing outfits and makeup in colorful tones and a lot of kitschy accessories. The initial decora fashion gained media attention due to its extravagant appearance, and it had a strong eccentric impression.
However, entering the 2010s, decora fashion was not only regarded as a youth culture, but also appreciated as a pop culture representing Japan, known as 'Kawaii Culture', and it entered a new phase.
Decora fashion, which appeared on the streets in the late '90s and has been handed down through the times since the 2010s, but what kind of style is it evolving into now?
This time, we asked Haruka Kurebayashi, who was immensely popular in the Harajuku-based magazine 'KERA' in the 2010s and led decora fashion in that decade, about the Harajuku of that time and the current decora fashion scene.
This time, we asked Haruka Kurebayashi, who was immensely popular in the Harajuku-based magazine 'KERA' in the 2010s and led decora fashion in that decade, about the Harajuku of that time and the current decora fashion scene.
PROFILE
Haruka Kurebayashi
Since 2009, she has been active as a model for the Harajuku-based magazine 'KERA'. She has been sending out KAWAII Culture to the world as a fashion, music, and video creator.
Since 2015, she has mainly been active appearing as a guest at KAWAII Culture-related events all over the world.
She has been involved as a collaborator in research and paper production on KAWAII fashion by overseas researchers since 2018.
She gained popularity from abroad on social media, and as a Japanese, she has been interviewed twice by the official U.S. Instagram account, making her one of the highly popular KAWAII icons abroad.
X (previously: Twitter)
Harajuku in the Late 1990s and the 2010s
I consider myself as one of the core generations of the late 90s Harajuku culture. Even for me, it was quite shocking and felt 'new' when Kurebayashi started appearing in magazines. Although Harajuku was still bustling around that time, what was the atmosphere of Harajuku and decora fashion like in the 2010s?
In my perception, as we stepped into the 2010s, it was a time when individuals began to use social media like Twitter (now X) in earnest, and new fashions started to appear on the streets.I think it was a good year for fashion, spreading from magazines even to generations not yet heavily using social media. At that time, the 'Hokoten' (pedestrian paradise) no longer existed, and I have the impression that the dissemination of Harajuku culture shifted from 'Hokoten' to 'Takeshita Street'.
This is just my personal take, but I remember decora fashion in the late '90s often featured fashion that actively incorporated Vivienne Westwood and indie brands, and color coordination that mainly used red and pink, resembling a strawberry.
I feel like Harajuku fashion in the 2010s became more about second-hand and handmade than in the 90s. Decora fashion also reached a point where it was mainstream to combine and remake vintage clothes.
Looking back as a whole, what was the 2010s like as a decade?
The 2010s were the heyday of reader models. Around 2000, the main fashion icons were 'charisma shop staff' and 'charisma hairdressers.' Then the career 'reader model' began to permeate, and everyone was excited about becoming a 'reader model.'At that time, 'reader models' were similar to today's influencers. Still, because Instagram and TikTok did not exist, wanting to become a 'reader model' but not knowing how to become one... was different from now.
Why and how did Kurebayashi start decora fashion?
Actually, it was pretty late when I started the kind of style that is epitomized by decora fashion, which means wearing lots of things.I started around the age of 22-23. Until then, I enjoyed wearing flashy clothes and remaking and wearing things I made myself from second-hand clothes. Influenced by magazines like 'Zipper' and 'KERA', there was a popular site among young girls at that time called 'Fumi Commu!', where I exchanged information and looked at snapshots.
It was the era of feature phones, but they had internet functions, so it was just the era when many community sites were popping up. That's where I first encountered decora fashion.
It was the era of feature phones, but they had internet functions, so it was just the era when many community sites were popping up. That's where I first encountered decora fashion.
Back then, there were many community sites like 'Magical iLand' and 'Preamble Profile.' Various people started blogs, downloaded clippings of used clothes models from free material shops, and it was a staple to make their websites and do light coding. I gathered information from both magazines and the internet.
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