« Gyakuten Kenji Has a Release Date
Ningin Interview: the silly boys of ABDC’s Quest Crew - pt. 1 »

Konnichiwa, recessionistas. This week, Forever 21 officially launches its ‘Shibuya Mon Amour’ collection of tanks and tees, allegedly inspired by the “cool kids of Paris and Tokyo.” Looking at what’s available to purchase online, it may be safe to say that the “cool kids” are rocking the animals. Forever 21’s perception of what the “cool kids” are wearing may be debatable—I don’t recall any Parisian or Shibuyan “cool kid” trends surfacing the fashion blogosphere, nor can I distinguish anything remarkably Parisian or Shibuyan. My guess is they went with Shibuya, due to Gwen Stefani’s claim on Harajuku. Or, I’m just totally not in the loop and Japan’s fashion epicenter has moved from Harajuku to Shinjuku.

The collection is designed by Satine Boutique owner Jeannie Lee, one of very few LA-based recession-unfriendly boutiques still standing today. Shibuya Mon Amour prices range from $13.80-15.80, a far cry from the Alexander Wang, Tsumori Chisato and Jason Wu pieces she sells in her store. (Sidenote: Michelle Obama’s inaugural ball dress? Totally designed by Jason Wu. Jason, consider yourself an “it” designer of 2009.) While I don’t understand the necessity of creating a separate line and am slightly underwhelmed (with good reason: it’s cheap!), I’ve got my eye on the deer shirt. That says a lot, I usually don’t do graphics on t-shirts. Here’s your first pounce on Shibuya Mon Amour:

Shibuya Mon Amour
Shibuya Mon Amour



« Gyakuten Kenji Has a Release Date
Ningin Interview: the silly boys of ABDC’s Quest Crew - pt. 1 »

18 Comments »

I don’t see much “Shibuyan”. lol I guess it’s cute?


Looks like regular American clothes. What exactly is Shibuyan?


They should have went Harajuku. I don’t remember Shibuya ever being more trendy than Harajuku. :X haha Maybe I’m out of the loop too!


lol I like her head accessory.


You mean headband? lol It looks okay. I’m not sure if I would buy it. I love Forever 21 but now this line.


I don’t quite see it.
xD
Normally I like owls but those just look a bit creepy.


Shibuya My love? lol Cute name.


Shibuya style I thought was dark orange tanning with White Eyeshadow.

ShibuyaGirls.jpg

Lots of tanks and layered jewlery.


That’s “Shibuyan” nowadays? Wth! Last year was all about long tunics, footless tights, sparkly peep-toe/sandal heels and long trench/pea coats. For claiming to be inspired by street fashion in Paris and Tokyo, it looks pretty generic. Sigh, and owls and American eagles are so overdone… Oh, Forever 21, you’re where good fashion goes to die, but at least you’re relatively inexpensive…


Sakura - 01/23/09 8:00 pm

I don’t see much “Shibuyan”. lol I guess it’s cute?

Yeah I don’t either. Doesn’t really wow too much.


Miss.Kang - 01/23/09 8:02 pm

Looks like regular American clothes. What exactly is Shibuyan?

I know, right?
I have no idea what people in the Shibuya district are wearing, haha.


zinger - 01/23/09 8:07 pm

They should have went Harajuku. I don’t remember Shibuya ever being more trendy than Harajuku. :X haha Maybe I’m out of the loop too!

That’s what my first thought was. Perhaps they didn’t want to step on Gwen Stefani’s legal toes?


TiffanieJLee - 01/23/09 9:05 pm

That’s “Shibuyan” nowadays? Wth! Last year was all about long tunics, footless tights, sparkly peep-toe/sandal heels and long trench/pea coats. For claiming to be inspired by street fashion in Paris and Tokyo, it looks pretty generic. Sigh, and owls and American eagles are so overdone… Oh, Forever 21, you’re where good fashion goes to die, but at least you’re relatively inexpensive…

Haha, right! I’m glad it’s relatively inexpensive, because if it wasn’t...do not want!


hmmm....it would look like shibuya if she wear the right short, shoe, and accessories, and if she was asian then yeah, but this girl is white, and the accessories is so wrong so i don’t think it brings out the whole shibuya style...*not to be racist or anything but it’s true, if the model was asian then it’ll look a little bit more like it....*


aznxangelx - 01/29/09 3:43 am

hmmm....it would look like shibuya if she wear the right short, shoe, and accessories, and if she was asian then yeah, but this girl is white, and the accessories is so wrong so i don’t think it brings out the whole shibuya style...*not to be racist or anything but it’s true, if the model was asian then it’ll look a little bit more like it....*

I disagree. The color of your skin does not affect style, nor do they have any relationship with each other. If they chose a half-Asian person that appeared black, that doesn’t make that same person not Asian enough to be representing the style.


JinraIlustrisimo - 01/29/09 5:53 am
aznxangelx - 01/29/09 3:43 am

hmmm....it would look like shibuya if she wear the right short, shoe, and accessories, and if she was asian then yeah, but this girl is white, and the accessories is so wrong so i don’t think it brings out the whole shibuya style...*not to be racist or anything but it’s true, if the model was asian then it’ll look a little bit more like it....*

I disagree. The color of your skin does not affect style, nor do they have any relationship with each other. If they chose a half-Asian person that appeared black, that doesn’t make that same person not Asian enough to be representing the style.

Yes, I do agree that it doesn’t take an Asian person to wear something Asian (or Asian-inspired, in this case), nor does it take a non-Asian person to properly wear something made by a caucasian designer.

That said, aznangel does make a point about the collection not making authentic nods towards style in Shibuya. Forever 21—despite having one or two cute pieces every season—is just a cheap, generic translation of good style and good design. For the most part, this “Shibuya” collection lacks the nuances (ie: individual and originally creative thought) that define any collection from any region. It’s just a bunch of graphic tees and pseudo stressed jeans. And horrid fedoras; I for one am embarrassed that people are still into fedoras in LA…

So, yeah, it’s got nothing to do with skin color or cultural heritages, but it has everything to do with a lack of good fashion sense.


Shibuya is definitely more the style than the race. It’s just more commonly seen on Japanese girls but that doesn’t make being Japanese necessary.


TiffanieJLee - 01/29/09 6:01 am
JinraIlustrisimo - 01/29/09 5:53 am
aznxangelx - 01/29/09 3:43 am

hmmm....it would look like shibuya if she wear the right short, shoe, and accessories, and if she was asian then yeah, but this girl is white, and the accessories is so wrong so i don’t think it brings out the whole shibuya style...*not to be racist or anything but it’s true, if the model was asian then it’ll look a little bit more like it....*

I disagree. The color of your skin does not affect style, nor do they have any relationship with each other. If they chose a half-Asian person that appeared black, that doesn’t make that same person not Asian enough to be representing the style.

Yes, I do agree that it doesn’t take an Asian person to wear something Asian (or Asian-inspired, in this case), nor does it take a non-Asian person to properly wear something made by a caucasian designer.

That said, aznangel does make a point about the collection not making authentic nods towards style in Shibuya. Forever 21—despite having one or two cute pieces every season—is just a cheap, generic translation of good style and good design. For the most part, this “Shibuya” collection lacks the nuances (ie: individual and originally creative thought) that define any collection from any region. It’s just a bunch of graphic tees and pseudo stressed jeans. And horrid fedoras; I for one am embarrassed that people are still into fedoras in LA…

So, yeah, it’s got nothing to do with skin color or cultural heritages, but it has everything to do with a lack of good fashion sense.

well ok, i admit i was wrong about the skin color and look thing, but i still think that the combination of that style is not shibuya look



Dear Guest, please login to comment

Login with your Ningin account

Create New Account | Forgot password?

OR login with Facebook


Please keep the comments clean by not posting advertisements, profanity, or personal attacks. Terms of Use.

newsletter

Tips

We love to hear from our users! Let us know what you'd like us to write about at tips@ningin.com.

PopularBlogPosts

MustRead


Categories


Archives


TagCloud