Sep 25, 2009 | Fashion
Here is the English description from the AS KNOW AS website:
“Always in high spirits …tea always delicious.
Founded in 1989, AS KNOW AS CO., LTD. produces a number of fashion lines for
women in their teens, twenties, and thirties.
AS KNOW AS opened its first store in 1994 in the trendy Harajuku shopping district.
It now directly manages over a hundred stores throughout Japan. AS KNOW AS began as a wholesale vendor and remains faithful to the original plan.
In 2007 it built new headquarters to integrate all sections of the company–design, patternmaking, production, sales, logistics–and to accommodate the many wholesale clients
who come from afar six times a year to place their orders.
International success can be traced largely to i.t, a listed Hong Kong retail company with exclusive vending rights in China.
AS KNOW AS is a hit in Hong Kong and also has a small but successful presence in Taiwan, Shanghai, Beijing, and Kuwait.”
It’s a particularly unique brand as the clothing is not only designed but also produced in Japan, something very unusual in the current market where many, if not most, Japanese brands have their production done overseas in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.
Read more about each brand within the larger AS KNOW AS company after the jump…
AS KNOW AS de base
Apparently they’ve licensed out some Peanuts stuff to use in their designs.
See?!! Bear! On Bag!! (Just like mine!) I’m not nuts – the Japanese really do love this stuff!
AS KNOW AS de base strives to produce clothing that is cute but sophisticated, imbued with details. The consumer can mix and match textures and fabrics to create an entirely coordinated outfit that expresses her personality. [My extremely loosey-goosey translation from their wesbite.]
You can buy AS KNOW AS de base items online here.
AS KNOW AS olaca
For those ladies who want to wear adorable clothes – AS KNOW AS olaca is a line only available in “olaca” sizing [oh- raka means “loosely” or “kind of” in Japanese]; i.e., SIZE L. Producing everything from jackets to accessories, dresses to blouses, the brand creates a completely coordinated outfit in cuts that envelope the body. [And that’s my oh-raka translation LOL]
You can shop AS KNOW AS olaca online here.
AS KNOW AS Pinky
AS KNOW AS pinky creates fun, detailed clothing specifically for the younger woman. Using plentiful colors and high-quality fabrics, the brand brings new life to basics. They intend to infuse their pieces with that extra something that makes the wearer reach for them again and again in her daily life.
You can shop AS KNOW AS pinky online here.
Nanashi
Nanashi is for the woman who en
joys using her clothes to express herself. For the woman who has fun with fashion and outfits – who sees her style as flexible. The brand creates silhouettes that are feminine, with an emphasis on those details that make an item of clothing special.
You can shop Nanashi online here.
AS KNOW AS de wan
AS KNOW AS dog products: “Matching Clothes with Mama,” collars, leashes, toys, snax, beds, and other accessories.
Shop AS KNOW AS de wan online here.
To me, the clothing from the AS KNOW AS brands look pretty interchangeable with one another – i.e., I can’t really tell the difference between an olaca and a Nanashi for example. But they are still pretty, wearable pieces, and the brand is doing quite well in Japan and abroad. Though I didn’t find anything to feed my fashion fetish at the AS KNOW AS Harajuku stores when I visited in August of this year, my AS KNOW AS de base apron-dress that I bought last year is still one of my favorite dresses in the whole wide world.
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Aug 20, 2009 | Beauty
Japan is also fabulous for (among other things) innovative beauty and health products. [I know you’re probably all sick of the whole “Japan is so great yada yada yada” routine, but honestly, if you got me started on the “Things I hate about Japan” that list would probably be longer.;-) So to keep things positive, I’m just focusing on the cool stuff – mainly consumerism and product innovation at its best.] Here are some neat products I’ve found:
Use instead of earring post nuts to keep your studs secure. Me, when I sleep on my side at night the studs I’m wearing in my ears always stab me in the side of the head when my ear is flattened. The nuts get caught on clothing and hair, get gunky with soap/shampoo/dead skin in them and have to be cleaned frequently – and I never thought about how much of a pain they are. These solve that, plus provide relief to people suffering from metal allergies (there are alot in Japan) since they are non-metallic. An added bonus: you can wear the pearls in the front and the stud in the back…very multifunctional! The store also had different versions like gemstone rounds or acrylic pastel colored balls for sale as well.
Cost: $8
For your Uggs, high-top sneaker, or other boots. Place inside the shoe in the heel area and it gives you a small height boost, so you don’t look short and with stocky legs, and don’t have the boot visually cutting you off at a weird place. They have ones that give you a 2 cm lift or a 3 cm lift. They’re made of silicone and so provide added cushioning to your heel – a big help for the tons of walking you have to do here.
Cost: $12.50 for the 3cm lift ones
Japanese people are also obsessed with ear canal cleanliness. Seriously. The colored Q-tips show the gunk you get out better, and the spiral shape really gets it all out. Or so I’m told.
Cost: $2.80 (from JBox.com; will ship to the U.S.)
Fake Eyelash Mascara
(sorry I can’t find a photo or a listing online, but basically, it looks like your average mascara)
Last year eyelash extensions were all the rage (I got some too) – they were cheap (about $80 for a full top set), lasted about 4-6 weeks if you were careful, indistinguishable from your natural eyelashes, you looked gorgeous round the clock with or without extra makeup….but they had problems, such as people being allergic to the glue, your natural eyelashes growing out and the extensions twisting and matting at strange angles and then poking you in the eye (yeah, that stage kind of sucked), and then your natural eyelashes growing in shorter or sparser because of the added weight and damage that the extensions had incurred. So now everyone’s just applying falsies for day and removing them at night with their makeup (even my 57-year-old MIL). But the problem is, no matter how realistic the false eyelashes look, they’re still kind of floating on top of your real ones. What to do? Enter this mascara, specially formulated to coat both natural and false eyelashes so that the two become indistinguishable. (Regular mascara can damage some types of falsies, but with this you can reuse your pair until they fall apart.)
Cost: $7
You know how, even after you shave your pits, you get this sort of bumpy terrain going on under there? I don’t necessarily mean ingrown hairs (which this product also helps alleviate), but just the sort of pit-appearance. It doesn’t look as nice as say, the skin on your forearm, does it? (Whether or not you use Dove Ultimate Visibly Smooth deodorant – which is specifically a growth retardent, not a skin-smoother per se.) Plus under there you also got deodorant buildup…well, it’s just an icky area of the body. Enter WakiLaLa Clear Wash, a product guaranteed to make your underamrs pikapika (smooth and shiny) by scrubbing away dead skin and deodorant buildup, and leave everything smelling fresh.
Cost: $7.50
Why didn’t they think of this sooner??? A pen with a tint made of self-tanner, you draw in your eyebrows with this (carefully, mind you) and even after you wash your makeup off what you drew lasts for 3-7 days. Brilliant – especially for those who’ve overplucked or have eyebrows so blond they disappear every time you wash your face (that’s me! Though not a problem most Japanese women have LOL)
Cost: $13 (the linked page above isn’t loading the product photo, so I’ve included the photo from this site here…the pens are henna-based, but still the same concept, tho they only last 3 days, and the Peach John version lasts up to 7)
I know you probably hadn’t thought about it before (I know I hadn’t), but those pierced ear holes get kind of…smelly and gunky after awhile, no? Clean them with ear hole floss! Like dental floss, but stiffer and shorter. Like a toothpick, but thinner and more pliable. Genius! I found both mint- and rosewater- scented versions.
Cost: $3
You can’t be female and survive Tokyo’s August without these. This work like blotting paper, except when you blot, the sheets impart a layer of soft, lightweight powder. Some sheets have separate functions for each side: one side wipes the sweat, the other re-seals your foundation once you’re done. Your makeup stays put no matter what! (And they have scented versions, and Men’s Sheets….)
Cost: $3
Most of these products you can only buy in Japan; the links on the titles will take you to pages where you can buy them but you have to have a shipping address in Japan. Some Asian supermarkets will sell them (I’ve seen the WakiLala Armpit Clear Wash at the local Uwajimaya in Oregon, for example). Some you may be able to buy on JBox.com (for example, the cotton swabs above), which is a treasure trove of all things Japanese!
xoxox from Tokyo
Carly
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Aug 13, 2009 | Fashion
photo from Sea of Shoes
I had never heard of the boutique Bedrock until Jane from Sea of Shoes wrote a post about the boutique and the amazing Japanese brand if six was nine (owned by the Maniac Coporation). (She posted a photo of herself wearing a fabulous one-armed jacket on said post that I was drooling over for quite some time. So since I was in Tokyo I decided to check out the Bedrock boutique in Omotesando Hills. They carry (among other high-end lines) Ann Demulemeester, Givenchy, Rick Owens, LGB (apparently a more affordable Maniac Corporation line, with a plain tank top clocking in at about $80), and of course, the lovely if six was nine. 
(sorry for the poor photos; you can’t take photos inside and this is all that was on their website. This is the antechamber you enter after going down the staircase. You can see the blue squidlike thing covering the light fixture on the left.)
As per Jane’s instructions, I located the Forbidden Fruit Cafe in Omotesando Hills – and passed through the cafe, towards the back door. Bedrock boutique is neither marked with signage or name on the outside, and does not appear in the shop listing for Omotesando Hills West Building. The back doorway from the cafe is also unmarked, and for a brief moment I thought I was heading into their kitchen or something, but the lady behind the counter game me a nod. I descended down a perforated metal spiral staircase to the basement, where a dark antechamber with a girl behind the counter waited. A single blue light on the wall was covered with a translucent jellyfish-like mass of tentacles. Then through a cagelike wrought-iron grate entrance and into Bedrock itself. Rough cement floors, dark and mysterious, it looked something like a cross between a medieval torture chamber and a root cellar. Albeit a bizarre root cellar.
Hanging from the ceiling was a
double-tiered chandelier lamp that looked like cockroaches slowly sliding upwards and upon closer inspection proved to be slowly rotating dark glass ribbons (obviously, I need to get new glasses). There was a skeleton pelvis that sat on a stuffed gilt chair, wearing a single boot on one of its feet. A wrought multi-tiered pillar candle holder below a shrine-like collection of lit crosses and hanging belts. A taxidermied black buffalo head mounted on the wall. A vintage motorcycle was stopped in a corner fronting a huge cactus garden behind triangular panes of glass. Gray leather-padded changing room doors with oversized padlocks and submarine-like portal windows completed the look.
The clothes were amazing – and, for the most part, amazingly unaffordable. (No steals to be had here, I’m afraid.) The goth angle wasn’t ostentatious – but it was definitely there, and each piece was darkly fabulous and fascinating at the same time. I found a Rick Owens gray $1300 jacket, though (not the Autumn ’09 one with the winglike protrusions on the elbows, but a similar cut), and a one-of-a-kind gown for $8000 in a rich purple silk, covered with scraps of lace and hand-sewn sequins.
A black silk dress with black gemstones sewn onto the lacy collar to make scorpions.
A button-down shirt with pewter skulls for buttons.
A beige corset dripping with tatters of lace, knitted streamers, and fabric straps down to the knees.
Bracelets made out of snake vertebrae in a display case.
Platform shoes with heels made out of curlicued wrought iron (perhaps salvaged from a vintage gate?).
Even LGB-branded angora-blend see-thru rib tankdresses (plain, no adornment) were $80. I could also afford an $80 knitted mushroom-shaped black beret (again, nothing unusual or special about it).
A black bag made from an entire baby alligator (minus the tail and legs) the head flopped over the center and serving as the clasp. (PETA would have a field day here, between the buffalo head, fur rugs, and alligator bag, which was, albeit, more than slightly repulsive.)
Chain mail kerchief-shaped necklaces studded with bronze crosses (I’ve seen them in an editorial somewhere but forget the designer).
I couldn’t find the one-armed jacket Jane walked away with, or the beautiful wing-print long tank dress from their website above, but I’m sure either one would be a little out of my reach. Just something to look at and sigh about!
The store is just so flippin’ fabulous you have to go if you’re here! Definitely check it out if you can!
xoxox from Tokyo
Carly
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Jul 30, 2009 | Fashion
Jelly Garcia
(sorry for the excessively-pixellated photos; they’re what was on the company’s site)
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
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 1: Outer layer zipped and snapped closed, waist drawstrings pulled and tied.
(Jelly Garcia dress, Jeans Warehouse tank, DKNY jeans, Steve Madden flats)
Configuration 2: Outer layer open, inner layer tied halter-style around neck.
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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