How the land of the Rising Sun changed fashion forever

When thinking of Japan, people will often picture, sushi, samurai, a cityscape full of bright signs and with large crowds that spill into adjacent streets, and of course, Godzilla.

And while many of these things are a large staple for how American’s view Japan, it is by no means the only thing that the country is known for. Japan is compromised of some of the most resilient, hard working, and attentive people the world has ever seen, and that’s no exaggeration. The people work tirelessly to reach their best in whatever it is they do, taking pride from even the most minuscule of details, and it shows in what they produce.

Companies like Bounty Hunter, BAPE, and others have shown the world that style belongs to the Japanese, and they are wielding it with amazing results.

But why is it that other countries seem to lag behind the Japanese in terms of style and fashion? Andrew Chen of 3Sixteen had this to say:

“In short - I believe Japanese brands are capable of producing collections of stellar quality because they have a customer base that is completely obsessed with detailing, fit and fabrication.”

Even Ricky Kim of Evil Monito fame wrote an article along the same lines detailing the countries passion for fashion, and how the resilience shown in the face of historical national tragedy led to some of the most focused and dedicated people of our time. The Japanese people are fierce, and the attention they put into the craft is amazing. Several times while becoming more and more acclimated with fashion and looking at unfamiliar brands, I would find something, an article of clothing, a hat, sunglasses, shoes, and I would immediately see such amazing craftsmanship and detail that I had to purchase it immediately. And as I would click through links to get to the thing I coveted, I would be hit with the realization that I was staring at a screen written entirely in Japanese, and as time progressed, this occurred with more and more frequency. The Japanese have in no uncertain terms dominated the fashion industry, and have been for many years much to my surprise at the fore front of the fashion industry, making it seem like America and other countries might be lagging behind in terms of dedication and appreciation to the craft.

But Andrew Chen also had this to say when asked about the situation of why the Japanese seem to be miles ahead in terms of fashion.

“To be honest, though, there are plenty of brands here in the US that pride themselves on the same thing. Flip through any Japanese fashion magazine - Huge, Non-No, Sense - and you will see that they don’t simply cover Japanese brands but have an enormous sense of respect for European and American labels that are doing innovative work. Perhaps it’s because we are here in the states with limited access to so many Japanese brands we all admire, but I am sure Japanese customers feel the same way about American brands they highly covet.”

So perhaps its more of a ‘grass looking greener on the other side’ scenario, but either way, it is none the less inspiring that the country is inspiring a new push for fashion, and their dedication and resolve to do amazing work seems to be rubbing off on brands here in the states and other countries as well. This blog has covered several such brands, and whether it be in New York, Los Angeles, Brazil, France, Italy, one thing is for certain, those with a passion for what they do are standing out, and the Japanese are definitely leading the way.

Special thanks to Andrew Chen of 3Sixteen Clothing, Ricky Kim of Evil Monito, and Dropular, for the bad ass picture I used for this post that has literally nothing to do with fashion but was used for the overall awesomeness of the image.