Department store Parco is aiming to fill the vacuum created by the rapidly declining gyaru (gal) culture that used to define the Shibuya area of Tokyo. By taking aspects of the otaku (geek) culture of Akihabara and re-imagining them through art and fashion in the context of a popular shopping district, it is presenting a genuinely fresh face of Tokyo youth fashion.
Parco's new operations began on Sept. 27 with the opening of the recently renewed 6th floor of the Parco Part 1 building. Dubbed "Shibuya Pop-Culture Market," the entire floor is now devoted to a mix of Japanese pop-culture and fashion that is becoming the representative aesthetic of the moment.
At the reception, the girls greeting guests were not the familiar faces from youth fashion magazines, but members of the Akihabara "idol" group Denpa Gumi.inc, whose heavily stylized anime-character, printed school uniforms set the tone for this new fashion culture.