April 15th, 2008 
Spooky 
As a manga and anime enthusiast, I must say I love these girls’ style!
I’m sure most of you are already familiar with this fashion style, very popular in Japan’s biggest cities and even though you didn’t know it was called Harajuku, you’ve surely seen some oddly dressed girls, wearing lots of make-up, they’re all over the internet.
Harajuku style was named after Harajuku district in Tokyo, the place where it’s believed it all began and where all the kids gather to scout for new funky clothes in the numerous shops and boutiques, or just to show off their new outfits. The nice thing about this fashion trend is that it’s not big brands or fashion designers telling people what to wear, but just the opposite, the kids are dictating what sells.
Japan is very “absorbent”when it comes to Western culture, so the Harajuku style is a trademark for those independent spirits that don’t go with the flow and choose to freely express themselves.
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Great inspiration! Thanks for posting this collection
The entire Harajuku culture is so amazingly beautiful and interesting.
that’s not fashion. it’s cosplay. And all except the girls with the green hair and the borwn hair are dir en grey cosplayers. Original designs for those outfits are made by ID-Japan. A very big company that has been dressing up musicians since the early 90’s.
So it actually is the big brands and fashiondesigners that tell them what to wear.
It’s not art and they don’t express themselves. They are simple copycats and you’re giving them credit for something they never did.
and no. it’s not called harajuku style. that name was popularized by gwen stefani, but there are numerous styles in japan that haven’t reached foreign countries. labeling them all as harajuku style is just ignorant.
Stop being so critical, people just want to express themselves and have some fun in being different. they might of gotten some clothes from a certain store but you dont see their whole outfit so you can’t judge.
and they are expressing themselves just by being that brave enough to go out dressed like that, i personally would love to wear something like that but im to scared to be judged. they are making a statment and expresseing themselves.
It IS fashion and those who call it not are just ignorant of the style. Good work to the person who made this. Love the Flare.
Peace, Love, and Applesause
me
Good article. I’ve been into Japanese Fashion for years.
But I just want to say one thing. “Harajuku” is not a fashion style or trend. Harajuku is a district in Tokyo where young Japanese teens go to flaunt their unique style. I’ve been around lot’s of Anime fans and other fans of the Japanese culture, and they refer to it as “Japanese Street Fashion” or sometimes “Japanese Fashion”, “J-Fashion” or “J-Style”.
Yay for Japanese Street Fashion!
I simply adore it!
Being an artist it’s a great source of inspiration. ^-^
Some of my best works have been inspired by the Gothic Lolita style.
Props to all these girls and all the others like them!
Individuality and self expression own. ^-~
This is great! I simply adore Japanese Street Fashion. Being an artist and fashion designer I’ve gained a lot of inspiration from it. Exspecially Gothic Lolita fashion…I love that. When it comes to self expression and individuality the Japanese are at the top of the game.
I just wish more people would be so open about their fashion sense!
You are right. There are now many clothes and websites that sell harajuku fashion and lolita fashion, but the spirit of this japanese style has arisen from teenagers not being afraid to customise and accessorise their own clothes, and to wear crazy outfits with a sense of humour to retaliate against social expectations of straight clothes, straight jobs, straight attitudes. Jacco Fashion*
yeah, that’s not harajuku fashion sense because it’s a cosplay… i can see some of anime characters potrait by those teenagers…harajuku is a mix and match fashion sense, it wont concentrated on one type character only..
overboard teenagers may display the cosplay character on the street to, so that’s why many people tend to misunderstood cosplay with harajuku fashion sense
so do you really think that all that harajuku “fashion” is just cosplay? just inspired by anime and manga?
i’m a fashion designer so your reply might help me lots
do you really think that’s cosplay, i don’t see which charaters they are cosplaying >////<
Whether It’s called harjuku style, japanese fashion, or cosplay, we all agree that we like it. It does take bravery to wear those out in public. I know if I had the money I would buy those clothes & wear them. By the way, to the fashion designers, I’m trying to get into the fashion career. I’ve been drawing clothes for 8 years. Any help or tips for me?
some of it is costume play, some isn’t. The ones that dress up like their favorite glam rockstars are the cosplayers. However, there are many others that are not cosplayers and dress a certain alternative style that they like. Ganguro, Decora/FRUiTS, Kogal, J-urban, etc. are styles that are not particularly based on any rock bands.
It is mostly the Visual Kei/Visual Rock and Gothic Lolita style that is. However, there are many others that have created their own unique variations of the styles, such as full-blown Victorian Lolita, Rococo Lolita, etc.; their rock idols often being their greatest inspiration.
If you ever have the chance go to Harajuku, Japan someday, if you see multiple people wear the same elaborate outfits, those are the cosplayers.
The people show in these pictures are cosplaying as members from the rock band, Dir en Grey. here is an example of the member’s original outfits, obviously copied and worn by their fans much later on:
http://www.id-japan.co.jp/mask/images/dir-myaku.jpg
http://www.bigtakeover.com/images/140.jpg
and here is the original blue ensemble worn by Toshiya, later on ‘cosplayed’ by fans as seen in the pictures posted here on Oddity Central:
http://www.spirit-of-metal.com/membre_groupe/photo/Toshiya-3495_fff4.jpg
We visit style-arena.jp almost daily. The site gives us an idea on what people are putting on in their everyday life. There are gaps between street and runway fashion, and between Asian and Western tastes. Those street fashion photos are making our reference when we are stocking for our clothes inventory.
that was really rocks!