As the lyrics of “Harajuku Girls” from Gwen Stefani’s first solo venture, Love, Angel, Music, Baby, so vividly proclaim: “Work it, express it, live it, command your style. Create it, design it. Now let me see you work it. You bring style and color all around the world – you Harajuku Girls.” However, these aren’t merely lines out of a song, it is the literal truth. The Harajuku Girls do indeed bring style and color all around the world via Gwen Stefani’s Harajuku Lovers line, and this spring, fans met these living vogue palettes of fashion up-close and personal.
Excitement swept across the internet in late March when it was announced that Gwen Stefani’s famous backup dancers, the Harajuku Girls would be touring a number of Macy’s department stores in California to promote Harajuku Lovers. This news sent fans of all ages into a frenzy. Stefani in recent years had established herself as a queen of pop as No Doubt’s front woman, and is now a force in the fashion world, as evidenced by her quickly growing fashion empire. Through her Harajuku Lovers line, she has brought a piece of the Japanese culture to the forefront of Americans’ minds and more importantly their closets. Conceptually, the line is an amalgamation of the Shibuya, Tokyo area of Harajuku in Japan and Stefani’s backup dancers. She has created a hybrid of Harajuku fashion to create her own vision of a street wear line.
Harajuku Lovers was launched in 2005. The items are created at a Los Angeles based company, Jerry Leigh. The forty-five-year-old firm mainly produced sportswear adorned with Disney and Warner Bros. characters, that is until Harajuku Lovers came along. The line consists of everything from handbags and wallets to shirts and shoes, as well as accessories and stationery. It is a line for children, adults and everyone in-between. Many celebrities don the apparel and even their famous offspring — including Shiloh Jolie-Pitt and of course Stefani’s son, Kingston Rossdale.
A celebrity sized bank account however, isn’t necessary to afford it. In fact, it differs from Stefani’s other line in that the price points are much lower, making it the accessible alternative. The line can be found at such high-end stores as Bloomingdale's and Nordstrom. It can also be purchased at trendy boutiques like Hollywood’s Kitson, which also acts as a photo-op dream for the omnipresent paparazzi — think Paris Hilton and Britney Spears.
Fans of this fashion line have even more to look forward too. In September Stefani will launch five new fragrances for her Harajuku Lovers collection, “Love,” “Lil’ Angel,” “Music,” “Baby,” and “G” for Gwen Stefani. Each perfume will be presented in the form of a doll based on herself and the four Harajuku Girls.
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