Japanese Teens as Producers of Street Fashion

Abstract

This study is a macro-sociological analysis of the social organization of Japanese street fashion and a micro-interactionist analysis of teen consumers who form various subcultures. These subcultures directly and indirectly dictate fashion trends. The present study shows the interdependence in the production process of fashion between institutions within the industries and the Japanese teens. Street fashion in the fashionable districts of Tokyo, such as Harajuku and Shibuya, is independent of any mainstream fashion system and goes beyond the conventional model of fashion business with different marketing strategies and occupational categories. This article shows that fashion is no longer controlled or guided by professionally trained designers but by the teens who have become the producers of fashion.