Harajuku Girls & Gwen Stefani

Speaking of Asian inspiration, Harajuku schoolgirls are all over Gwen Stefani's solo album, Love, Angel, Music, Baby. Stefani is my latest pop cultural fascination: She's new wave! No, hip hop! Insecure! And she wants a baby! Having listened to her record for about a week straight now, I can't decide if she's so wack she's genius, or just wack in general. The ever-perceptive Rob Sheffield at Rolling Stone nails it on the head for why the record fascinates: "And anyone who can get New Order on the same track as Wendy and Lisa is some kind of visionary." (And there are plenty of shades of Expose, Prince and pep rally-type sound on the record as well.) But then there is Stefani's ode to the cool stylee of Tokyo, "Harajuku Girls," which is just about the dumbest thing ever, namechecking A Bathing Ape, Hysteric Glamour and Yohji Yamamoto, going on and on about "the catwalk" and saying Harajuku girls have "wicked" style about a million times. I'm sorry, but most songs about fashion (unless they're by David Bowie) are just stupid in general, and "Harajuku Girls" is no different.

What irks most about the song (besides its weird overtones of fetishism and its general inanity) is that Stefani's version of the Harajuku girl is only about cartoonish, mad-colorful, jumbled-up and juvenile aesthetics. It's still going on that way, but according to people who actually live in Harajuku, street fashion is actually getting more subtle and down-to-earth. (This website is a great look at day-to-day Japanese street fashion, and pretty much the excuse for writing this entry.) But whatever. It's her song, and who am I to school a Vogue cover girl? I just wish she'd stop pretending the Harajuku girls she performs with are figments of her imagination and making them look at her adoringly on the floor as she gives interviews. It's kind of creepy.

Posted by Kat in Celebrities / Fashion
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