ABSTRACT

Japanese subcultural fashion has originated from creative youngsters who are mostly untrained, amateur individuals. This chapter argues that they have made a contribution in constructing an alternative fashion system that provides a unique production/consumption process and less of a or even nonhierarchical structure within the system. A separate system of fashion with a new business model has been created in Japan, which has resulted in the commercialization and commodification of subcultural fashion. The emergence of Japanese youth fashion in the districts of Tokyo indicates the popularity decline in mainstream fashion, including European and American brands, among the youths. As the legitimation mechanism and the power structure of fashion make a transition in Japan, it could further undermine the purpose of professional fashion training, and it could also lead to the fragmentation of the fashion and apparel industry as a whole, which has already developed multiple niche markets.