Jelly Garcia (love the name) is a Japanese brand that is one of my faves. I always stop by where they’re sold when I’m in Tokyo. The pieces are drapey, multi-functional, soft, and unusual, mixing bohemian and industrial sensibilities. (more after the jump)…

Here is the woebegone English description (directly from their website): “Jelly Garcia was launched in 2002 for the autumn/winter collection in Japan. The brand aims to establish conceptual ideas as the inspiration for cloth making. The notion of elegance is explored and constantly experimented, mainly through the military style. Different concepts are incorporated for each season to create a piece of clothing that has always an “elegance factor”.

“The anatomy, also the study of materials is particularly considered at the pattern making stage. They are then put under production often using materials that are invented originally or exclusively manipulated in our own method to create the classic design.”

Designer Hideaki SAKAGUCHI was born in 1973 in Tokyo, Japan, and after briefly working for DC meson, founded EXPERT WORKS TOKYO co. ltd. He then established his own label “Jelly Garcia Premium Wear.”

“Our aim is to create “the most beloved piece of garment” in wardrobes.”

Qojelly (with the “Q” pronounced like a “K”) is kind of the little sister to Jelly Garcia (“Ko” means “child” or “younger/smaller” etc. in Japanese). It’s a little more youthful and is smaller in scope, putting out fewer pieces each season, and offering more accessories and shoes. Below, some photos from some past Qojelly collections:

A pair of Qojelly shoes I bought last year:

They have these 2 long leather thongs attached that you can tie around the middle frilly part of the shoe, or twine around the shoe and up your ankle. They kind of look like girly spats to me.:-)

This is the Jelly Garcia dress I bought last time I visited 55Hotel Boutique at LaForet Harajuku [a huge shopping plaza mall in the heart of Harajuku in Tokyo]. I love the industrial feel to the straps and the heavy-duty canvas fabric couple with the beautiful asymmetrical hem and feminine cotton gauze lining. It’s adjustable and can be configured into multiple styles (which I love – that was one of the premises of my old line RIVETED when I launched it 2 years ago). A couple photos below:

 

Configuration 3: Outer layer open, one side of inner layer spread open and wound around neck, other side laced under the outer layer strap to tie at back.

I wish I were more photogenic so the true beauty of this dress could be seen. I was even wearing it when I had a fashion sketch done of me at the tents at New York Fashion Week this past February. (Chambord was doing this free promotion thing.)

I had belted the dress above with a thin studded black belt.

It is indeed “the most beloved garment” in my wardrobes. (And when I put it on to take the photos my son said “Oh Mama! You’re wearing a pretty dress!” Testimony enough.)

-Carly J. Cais

UPDATE (8/2009): Jelly Garcia Premium Wear has now changed its name to “The Dress & Co” (though QoJelly, retained under The Dress & Co label, remains the same. They will apparently be showcasing a collection to an international audience in New York in October 2009 (though not affiliated with Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week).

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