Japanese street style has always been on the cutting edge, sparking fanzines and inspiring teens to flock to Tokyo's Harajuku district to show off their distinct fashion sense. NYC photographer Thomas Card headed there for a visit, resulting in the new book, Tokyo Adorned.
Card took the 132 photographs in the spring of 2012, a year after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami hit northeast Japan. Card said, "The country experienced an upsurge of national pride and participants in street fashion increasingly celebrated their unique placement within the Japanese culture at large."
Besides the pictures of eye-popping ensembles from the super-styled subjects, the book also features essays by psychologist Samantha Boardman about clothes and self ("Clothes are our most immediate environment and the individuals depicted in these photographs literally inhabit their ensembles") and Buzz Spector, Dean of the Art School at Washington University, plus an introduction from Barneys Creative Ambassador-at-Large Simon Doonan. Doonan writes, "Thomas Card’s compelling photo essay encourages exactly this kind of endless speculation in the viewer. Who is she? Is she suicidal or deliriously happy? Does she always wear a Peruvian oven mitt on her head?"
TokyoAdorned Behind the Scenes from Thomas C Card on Vimeo.
A portion of the book's proceeds are going to Second Harvest Japan, the only nationwide food bank in Japan. Card is also signing books at Kinokuniya Bookstore on 6th Ave. on Tuesday, March 11.
