About:

'Lolita' in the fashion world refers to the iconic Japanese subculture inspired by Roccoco and Victorian clothing. (Though it shares the name, it has nothing to do with Lolita Complex/Lolicon!)

The typical Lolita look includes either a Dress(Onepiece/OP) or a Jump Skirt (JSK) with/without blouse. Most people use petticoat to make the skirt/dress have a voluminous/big silhouette.

To complete the look, some people uses matching hair band/ribbon, stockings/high socks, and cute lolita/mary jane shoes.

History:

The current Lolita fashion is said to have roots in Doll Fashion from the 1980s, with brands such as Pink House. At the time, the designer of fashion brand "MILK", which had attracted attention from pop idol wearing MILK clothes in their CD cover, became independent made brands such as "Jane Marple" and "Emily Temple cute". Both brands have Lolita-like elements in their concepts and designs, but at that time the word "Lolita fashion" did not exist yet. Instead, the term "Olive girl", taken from the name of the magazine 'Olive' which introduces such Lolita-like fashion, was used.

"Olive girl" was also a style reminiscent of the clothes worn by little girls and dolls, so it can be concluded that the origin of the current Lolita fashion is here. It was only in the early 1990s that the term "Lolita fashion" as a category began to be used in magazines.

And in the early 2000's, Lolita fashion was generally recognized by the hit of the movie "Shitatsuma Monogatari" (english title: Kamikaze Girls). Many girls started Lolita to imitate the main character Ryugasaki Momoko (Akiko Fukada). From that time, Lolita became a popular social phenomenon.

Nowadays, Lolita is popular all around the world, and it has been chosen as a part of Japanese culture to be spread to the world with Cool Japan Project. The Lolita style itself has many subcategories and derivatives now (eg: Chinese Lolita, Wa Lolita, etc)

Ref: http://asianbeat.com/ja/feature/issue_lolita/history.html

Brands: Alice and the Pirates, Alice Auaa, Angelic Pretty, Atelier Boz, Atelier Pierrot, Baby, The Stars Shine Bright, Innocent World, Juliette et Justine, Mary Magdalene, Metamorphose Temps De Fille, Victorian Maiden

Ambassadors: Misako Aoi, RinRin, Kimura U, Fukasawa Midori

GALLERY

@mxhl_art

Subcultures of Japan