Books
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Kinda early to say. So far, it focuses less on the workwear segment of men's clothing (which is what I sort of assumed it would cover) and more on the broader concept of creating a sense of fashion for men and a consumer culture in post-war Japan. It's examined a couple of trends in the 50s and 60s and how they reflected broader cultural changes, which is interesting, but not exactly what I expected.
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I just read the GQ interview with the author of Ametora, and he talks about the importance of the brand "A Bathing Ape". It always annoys me when people downplay or mock the influence of Bape on everything we love about Japanese clothing, it wasn't always camo hoodies and Nike rip offs.
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Does the author elaborate on the brands importance?
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He says that a lot of things started with Bathing Ape when referencing Japanese clothing impacting popular American culture.
Most folks just remember camo and Kanye, but that all came years after Bathing Ape started to impact popular culture.
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Unfortunately the author (in that instance) seems to be referencing the Kanye years, the early 2000's, when BAPE opened in NY.
You sparked my interest for a moment there, thinking he would elaborate on the influences American culture had on NIGO in the early 90's and then the subsequent influence BAPE had in America…
Perhaps he will touch on that in the book.
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These days BAPE is all about gold Rolexes…
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thinking he would elaborate on the influences American culture had on NIGO in the early 90's and then the subsequent influence BAPE had in America…
Perhaps he will touch on that in the book.
He did. Bape was covered largely to show the rise of natively developed Japanese fashion influence, both domestically and globally. It marked a change in that Japanese fashion was developed with no significant basis in American or European fashion, (unlike most previous American rooted trends) and intended for Japanese consumers (unlike previous Japanese designers like Miyake and Yamamoto, who hit first in Europe).
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im in japan, reckon i could find that anywhere?
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I just have fond memories of the old days when the first UK exposure to Bape was through Ian Brown and UNKLE. Back then Bape, Wtaps and Neighborhood were making really cool street wear…..then Kanye happened and Nigo went a bit nuts.
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Thanks, @Chris!
I can now see what you mean when you say not what you expected…
Do you think the book covers too broad a scope?
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I don't think so. It's a reasonably quick read, and while it doesn't go into exhaustive detail, that's not really the book's intent. It's for mass consumption by normal people, not a scholarly treatise for fashion historians. I'm not sure narrowing the focus and increasing the depth of detail would make for a better book.
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Also have this on its way to me, looking forward to reading it.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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picked up the kindle edition just now.
I have the Kindle version, too. Just a quick warning- it has some minor formatting issues; nothing really serious, but mildly annoying.
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Gotta love the near instant gratification of Amazon Prime:
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I got a copy of The Republic of Thieves signed by Scott Lynch. I need to get around to reading it, as it ended up in boxes before I got through it.
I really enjoyed The Lies of Locke Lamora, which was the first book in the series. If you haven't read it, and are into your fantasy epics, then it's worth a look.
