Ametora: How Japan Saved American Style

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Many movies, though I sometimes wonder if Hollywood is just amplifying these cultures that are already established--in a sense, it might not be very creative. Of course, Fruits magazine fashion is not really an example of Ametora, which is the book's focus. In that regard, it does a great job of emphasizing the enduring relevance of Ivy fashion (in particular), as well as other trends. This book is very focused, which is great--and perhaps this is better than any of the philosophical routes that this book could have taken. In particular, I would have been interested in how America's past and current fascination with Japanese clothing is related to Asiaticism (as opposed to the more past-directed Orientalism), which also manifested in art in movies such as Blade Runner, which warned of a Asian-dominated dystopic future, and the successful globalization of anime. Ametora, a terms for the “American Traditional” fashion style, is a book about how post-WWII Japan imported American fashion, developed it, and then re-exported it to the world. A large part of the book focuses on the preppy style (called Ivy in Japan) but Marx also talks about other aspects of American fashion like:

Traditionally, the Ametora style was very Ivy League. In 1965, Japanese photographer Teruyoshi Hayashida published a now-cult photobook called Take Ivy, which documented the way students dressed at Ivy League universities in the US. It influenced Japanese baby boomers, who adopted the style for themselves. Published in the autumn of 2015, Ametora completely uncovers why jeans became so popular in Japan, and ‘how Japan saved American style’ (which is the book’s subtitle). With an almost archaeological approach, the American author and journalist, W. David Marx (who speaks Japanese), spent two years researching this book, and another two years writing it. Through this scene, he developed mentorships and relationships with like-minded, young, Japanese men, including the likes of Jun “Jonio” Takahashi and Nigo, and even was the first Japanese member of the International Stussy Tribe--a loose network of creatives centered around Shawn Stussy’s revolutionary streetwear label. Through these connections, new Japanese streetwear brands were invented for the first time; Fujiwara’s Goodenough, Takahashi’s punk brand Undercover, and Nigo’s Planet of the Apes- inspired A Bathing Ape. As their fan base built up, as did the amount of members in Fujiwara’s crew creating their own lines. Decades after the war, many of these items like denim jeans, found its way to marketplaces frequented by Japanese Youth who were influenced by American style through Western Movies and exposure to the collegiate Ivy League style in the late 1950s and 60s.Admittedly, this book is quite nerdy, which is a compliment, with plenty of pictures (or varying aesthetic quality) and illustrations of original miner’s jeans worn by the frontiersmen of Nevada and California. James Sullivan’s book, Jeans: A Cultural History of an American Icon, was one of the books I hadn’t read before I began working on Blue Blooded. And, boy, was I missing out! Downey now works as a historical and archival consultant. In 2016, she also had a book about Levi Strauss (the man) published, which you can get here.

Do you avoid the limelight? Does having your photo taken make you uncomfortable? Do you think three belts is too many belts? Then K-pop fashion may not be for you. “It’s a real mix of high-end brands and trends,” says Standing. “You want to be adorned in the latest silhouettes, with the latest sneakers and extraordinary hair.” Key Brands I mean excuse me? Takuya Kimura is an icon in Japan and probably out of Japan too. The “questionable talent” bit sounds vaguely insulting, especially since he’s trying to explain Japanese fashion and Japanese culture to an American audience – it just sounds like after all the trouble he took to take various subcultures in Japan seriously, he could not bother to do the same for pop culture. Meanwhile, menswear was enjoying a revival of sorts in the United States. Online, it was referred to as #menswear—a mix of tailoring and casual East Coast prep that valued well-made goods and enthralling brand stories. Arguably the greatest influence on the trend, and on American style from 2009 until 2014, became Japan’s decades-old take on the same aesthetic: Ametora.At first, this book will seem like it has a really narrow focus and that it might not appeal to people who aren't so interested in Japanese fashion. I do have an interest in fashion, especially denim, which is covered extensively in this book, but this book's appeal was how detailed and all-encompassing it was within its niche. The lessons imparted in this book about how culture travels (especially pre-internet), marketing, and the logistics of international trends, trade, import, and manufacturing, makes this book particularly fascinating and widens the scope of the book past fashion. Just a few short months after Ishizu’s documentation of East Coast campuses in Take Ivy, those same campuses began to transform into radical nerve centers of “cultural experimentation and anti-war demonstrations”, as Marx puts it. The students who were previously so avid about looking clean-cut and sleek with button-downs and khakis began experimenting with frayed jeans, unkempt hair, and T-shirts that featured political slogans and graphics. It was the 60s….so, self-explanatory.. But, at the same time, the Japanese youth were going through similar social changes. As a constitutional ban on war was implemented to prevent assistance to US in the Vietnam war, young men began to disobey the work-obsessed lifestyle and adopted much more casual ones, challenging any and all right-wing adults.

Author of ametora bible, AMETORA: How Japan Saved American Style, W. David Marx, explains in his book that the concept of Ivy is what truly started it all, in terms of modern or post-war, Japanese style. With Take Ivy , Ishizu brought American style to Japan for the first time, as, prior to the 80’s, it was still fairly difficult for its population to travel west or receive influence from western cultures without it being brought directly to them.The idea that the Japanese adopt American styles without adopting American lifestyles. This is due to the fact that these styles are non-native to Japan. As Marx writes “By virtue of their foreign origin, any corresponding lifestyle must follow from the clothing rather than vice versa.” I actually like this idea of fashion as one component of a lifestyle, because I find that quite a few people have adopted one thing and made it their identity, which is a bit extreme (or maybe it’s ‘American’?) But as that style have evolved, so too has the meaning of Ametora. Today, it’s more about a certain sartorial attitude: high quality basics and the best fabric, small discrete details, a combination of old-fashioned expertise and high-tech innovation, a playful twist put on conservative pieces and the repurposing of vintage American iconography. I'm not reading the entire book because I'm not that interested in fashion. I got this from the library because it is literally THE ONLY book my system had on modern Japanese culture. How is that? In the Summer of 1964, Tokyo prepared to host thousands of foreign guests for the Olympic Games. Planners hoped to reveal a futuristic city reborn from the ashes of World War II, complete with sprawling highways, modernist stadium complexes, and elegant Western restaurants. As old-fashioned trolley cars disappeared from the streets, a sleek monorail debuted to whisk tourists into the city from Haneda Airport.