Cult Couture: Japanese cartoon-nostalgia in fashion
LVMHs Loewe collaboration with Studio Ghibli have been recurrent, but the recent Jimmy Choo’s Sailor Moon collection and the Astroboy red boots by MSCHF are making a statement on the fashion scene. What is it all about?
Japan has always been a source of inspiration for the fashion industry. In the 80s, Japanese designers Rei Kawakubo and Yohji Yamamoto stormed into the Parisian fashion scene with deconstructed yet sophisticated collections that left the audience in awe.
Today, the collections come into a more collaborative and commercial shape, notably since LVMHs Loewe started a lasting collaboration with Studio Ghibli by Hayao Miyazaki, one of the most famous animation Japanese studios.
The recent launch of ‘Howl’s Moving Castle’, shows that the taste for magic and nostalgia that irradiates from Miyazaki’s world has not slowed down. The first collaborations featured featured characters and scenes of ‘My Neighbour Totoro’, and for their second collaboration, the highly praised ‘Spirited Away’ pieces were in high demand.
Avid fans of both the fashion house and the animation studio were vocalising their misery at having missed out on the collection on social media. With almost all items sold out, the collection’s value has shot up substantially: the least expensive item, a $220 candle, has popped up on eBay for a few thousand dollars shy of half a million dollars.
The message was clear: when two creative powerhouses join forces, you inevitably get an influx of both fanbases scrambling to get it. Naturally, the ones who missed out are equally feverish.
Most recently, iconic brand Jimmy Choo took this insight to present a highly anticipated Valentine collaboration for 2023: the Jimmy Choo x Sailor Moon capsule collection.
On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of creator Naoko Takeuchi’s 90s anime, the luxury footwear brand has released a limited edition of the shoes for each one of the main 5 sailor stars from the opening season.
The collection will be available for purchase at the Jimmy Choo website.
High fashion brands have re imagined the universe of this Japanese animations, but some others have taken it from screen to store. New York fashion collective MSCHF sneakers have taken social media by storm with their latest Astroboy inspired red cartoon boots.
Retailing at $350, its bulbous silhouette looks more like the shoes worn by Osamu Tezuka's inimitable Astro Boy character. These big red boots recall some of MSCHF's other envelope-pushing Sneakers offerings, like the legally-tenuous Wavy Baby "Vans" and TAP3 shoes, but go beyond with a truly experimental shape.
With re sale value already being listed at $1,789, the internet has gone frantic over this footwear launch. Not Haute couture for sure, but Cult couture, we would say.
