“There are no more cool kids left to photograph.” FRUiTS shut down in 2017, there simply wasn’t content that fit the standard of Harajuku fashion anymore. Either there wasn’t anyone who dressed in the same bold way, or if anything, they weren’t in Harajuku anymore. Traffic was allowed back on the streets, and with that the intimate nature of Harajuku was gone, no longer a ‘pedestrian paradise’. Fast fashion retailers like Uniqlo moved in, and the globalisation of Japan overwhelmed the area with tourist traps and commercialisation. Social media also plays its part (as it always does), diluting fashion influence with so many different ideas that there’s essentially nothing left to really focus on.
In my opinion, creativity is born through a lack of influence. In a way, the grass is greener on the other side, our ambition to create is born from not already having something created for us. These ‘cool kids’ had the opportunity to create and wear whatever they wanted; they didn’t have social media or mass-market brands to influence them. They relied on each other, they relied on their own creativity and will to break the rules and expectations. In any case, fashion subcultures are about belonging; providing a space for individuals to belong, meet others with similar interests and find respect and camaraderie. At the height of Harajuku fashion, the internet did not exist, magazies like FRUiTS the most social media-esc influence at the time. It’s hard to engage in a fashion subculture as a lifestyle when we receive so many influences from other sources. There’s less investment on many levels, there feels like there’s less to prove.
Harajuku fashion is not dead. I might’ve been too harsh at the start. It’s simply, evolving. It will never be the same as it was, but that doesn’t mean that I will never have the same impact. We live in unprecedented times, change is not always a bad thing, there are always rules to break, connections to make and things to discover. Fashion is unpredictable, it is what it is. It’s easy to miss the eclectic and groundbreaking nature of the 90s Harajuku fashion though.
