FRUiTS: Tokyo Street Style

Explore a radical Japanese fashion culture through a new exhibition opening at the Bundaberg Regional Art Gallery on Wednesday 11 May, 2011. FRUiTS: Tokyo street style – photographs by Shoichi Aoki showcases a vibrant and engaging collection of photographs that celebrate the fresh approach to fashion by Tokyo’s youth.  

The exhibition features more than 60 photographs taken by Japanese photographer Shoichi Aoki in Tokyo between 1997 and 2002. The striking portraits provide a fascinating insight to the lives of a group of young Japanese people who express their individuality and fixations through their clothing.  

Aoki began documenting street fashion in Tokyo’s fashionable Harajuku area in the mid 1990s when he noticed a change in the way young people were dressing.

Rather than following European and American trends, youth were customising elements of traditional Japanese dress – kimono, obi sashes and geta sandals - and combining them with handmade, second-hand and alternative designer fashion in an innovative ‘DIY’ approach to dressing.

According to Shoichi Aoki, the fashion featured in FRUiTS is “more about the art of ‘putting things on’ than the art of making clothes.”

“Because western clothing has a short history in Japan, there is a strong tendency for people to dress in the same style as each other...In Japan, having a different style is a kind of risk...”

“The fashion movement that came about in Harajuku was a revolution. This kind of fashion was not ‘suggested’ by designers, but rather, the fashion of the young inspired the designers.”

Each photograph in the exhibition is accompanied by the name and age of the subject, a short description of their outfit and its origins and the subject’s own explanation of their fashion inspirations and obsessions.

Some of the many styles seen in FRUiTS include punk, cyber and decora, in which simple garments are accessorised with toys and plastic jewellery that clink together to add an aural dimension to dress.  Clothing inspired by cartoon characters like Sailor Moon are also popular.

In the last couple of years ‘elegant gothic Lolitas’ have had a strong presence in Japan. This style takes Harajuku’s doll-like ‘Lolita’ look into a harder world of black lace crinolines, corsets and bat-shaped handbags.

FRUiTS: Tokyo street style was developed by the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, in association with Shoichi Aoki. 

FRUiTS: Tokyo Street Style opens at the Bundaberg Regional Art Gallery on Wednesday 11th May, 2011. Doors open at 5pm-8pm, entry is free. The exhibition continues from 11 May - 26 June 2011. 

Check out the FRUiTS teaser on BRAGs Youtube Channel
Visit the FRUiTS page at the Powerhouse Museum