Martin Webb - The Japan Times

LIFE / Lifestyle

Sep 26, 2006

Latin America struts into the fashion spotlight

Ever since Gisele Bundchen attained supermodel status, Brazil has been going catwalk crazy. Now the country is hoping that the fashion world will recognize it as not only an exporter of top models but also as a center for the creation of designer clothing.

LIFE / Style & Design

Sep 12, 2006

Style wise

Heart of Harajuku renewed Teeming teen shopping haven LaForet Harajuku opened in 1978 and has been a pivotal part of Japan's youth culture ever since. The complex has had a few subdued periods over the years but is currently experiencing a happier chapter in its history. Earlier this month it underwent a major overhaul that saw existing outlets refurbished and a dozen or so new ones added, including U.K. chain stores Topshop and Topman.

LIFE / Style & Design / COUNTER CULTURE

Sep 8, 2006

Dover Street shop storms into Tokyo

When it comes to revolutionary retail concept stores in Japan, there's no getting away from Tokyo's Aoyama district. That area's latest major opening comes from none other than Japan's epoch-making fashion house Comme des Garcons.

LIFE / Lifestyle

Sep 5, 2006

Japan-born stylist brings influence to bear back home

W ith his big brown eyes and permanent pout, Nicola Formichetti doesn't look like the kind of guy to battle his way to the top of the bitchy world of fashion. But that is exactly where this super-stylist is -- flick through the phonebook-size fashion mags on the shelves on any given month and you're sure to come across his name before too long.

CULTURE / Art

Aug 31, 2006

The search for 'nihonga' clouds artistic judgements

While proponents of contemporary Japanese art do not seem quite as preoccupied with attempts to shock as their Western counterparts, for curators and creators with an eye on finding fame and fortune overseas, courting controversy can seem almost like an obligation.

Events / Events Outside Tokyo

Aug 25, 2006

Motor City soul

In the mid-1980s, when Detroit was a city in decline, Derrick May, Juan Atkins and Kevin Saunderson (collectively known as the Belleville Three) kicked off a musical revolution. By working the futuristic electro sound of European acts like Kraftwerk and New Order into a funky, dance floor-friendly musical style that would become known as Detroit techno, the three played a key role in shaping the soundtrack to the digital age.

LIFE / WEEK 3

Aug 20, 2006

Seniors go French with a 'little pig'

During the summer months in Japan, parks, baseball grounds and school yards come alive with the grimaces, grins, grunts and cries of triumph or dismay from people of advanced years who gather together to toss big metal balls at a little wooden one.

LIFE / Lifestyle

Aug 15, 2006

Meet the chic sikh

Waris Ahluwalia has some good anecdotes. Like the one where Willem Dafoe asks him if it's OK to give Spike Lee his number, and a couple of hours later he gets a call and the voice at the other end of the line says "Hey Waris, it's Spike Lee," and asks him to audition for his upcoming blockbuster bank heist movie "Inside Man." Waris got the part -- as a terrified bank clerk -- despite admitting to a pretty lame ability to scream. The Boston Globe described him as "excellent" in its review.

LIFE / Style & Design / COUNTER CULTURE

Aug 11, 2006

An attack of the cute and quirky

Fashion designer Eri Utsugi is a very lucky lady: After only one catwalk outing, her mercibeaucoup brand will open six new stores in prime locations -- starting with Aoyama and Ginza -- over the course of the next seven weeks.

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP

Aug 6, 2006

Shu Uemura: A life in pursuit of beauty

Hailing from a conservative family of businessmen and bankers, as a young man in occupied Japan, Shu Uemura dreamed of becoming an actor. But, fearing that his weak constitution would hamper his chances of success, he instead enrolled at Tokyo Beauty Academy -- the only man in a class of 130.

LIFE / WEEK 3

Jul 16, 2006

Hair today, gone tomorrow

"Does that hurt?" asks the doctor. "Err, not really," say I. "Right, turn it up to 40," she tells the technician. Then it does kind of start to hurt. It feels as though somebody is firing a tiny laser beam into my cheek. Indeed, that is exactly what is happening.

LIFE / Style & Design

Jul 11, 2006

Paula Ke in Tokyo, Uslu Airlines, Comme des Garcons' fragrances and more

Pret-a-porter a la Paris

LIFE

Jul 9, 2006

Japan fashions a menswear coup d'etat

For a week in July, Paris becomes an outpost of Tokyo as Japanese designers and buyers throng the catwalks, parties and cafes where business is done at the biannual men's clothing collections

LIFE

Jul 9, 2006

Fashionistas relish rumor over top job

Paris last week was rife with gossip over whether the menswear world's leading light, Hedi Slimane, was about to exit hyper-cool brand Dior Homme when his contract expires at the end of the month.

LIFE / Style & Design / COUNTER CULTURE

Jun 30, 2006

Getting the write stuff

Beyond scribbled shopping lists and jotted memos, putting pen to paper is increasingly rare in this age of electronic communications. But that only serves to enhance the delight of discovering a hand-addressed envelope on the doormat. While sending a signed and sealed missive is a sure way to show how much you care, it is a time-consuming endeavor. All the more reason, then, to glorify the letter-writing ritual with some slightly superior tools for the job.

LIFE

Jun 25, 2006

Goodies to let you live with the Y

The pea-green artery pumping shoals of company staffers into the heart of Japan Inc. every morning, and funneling them home by night, perfectly exemplifies Japanese efficiency.

Events / Events Outside Tokyo

Jun 23, 2006

Homage to a highland shrine

Fifteen years ago, photographer Naoyuki Kobayashi was on a joint Chinese-Japanese mountaineering expedition in the Himalayas when an avalanche took the lives of 17 of his fellow climbers. He has been returning to the Meili Snow Mountain, where the tragedy occurred, ever since, in a dogged search for the bodies of his missing friends.

LIFE / WEEK 3

Jun 18, 2006

Retro's where the future's at

Japan's talking heads of a liberal persuasion are clearly troubled by a rising nationalistic sentiment they detect throughout the land. But while speculation on the geopolitical consequences of any such shift may be an absorbing topic, trends in the world of culture -- and the changing tastes of consumers -- offer some of the most fascinating and colorful insights into this apparent recasting of national identity.

LIFE / Style & Design

Jun 13, 2006

Tiffany-Gehry collaboration, Commes des Garcons for Speedo, Oliver Goldsmith eyewear . . .

Architectural accessories Synonymous with refined New York-style luxury, jeweler Tiffany & Co. has signed up California-based Pritzker Prize-winning architect Frank Gehry to enhance its conservative image with a little left-field design credibility. The stellar collaboration has resulted in six lines of jewelry, each drawing on motifs from the star architect's oeuvre, including fish, folds and orchids.

LIFE / Style & Design

Jun 13, 2006

The beautiful game inspires sartorial sins

Soccer might be known as the beautiful game, but it has never inspired beautiful design. As the World Cup in Germany gets into full swing, patriotic fervor will move millions of fans to purchase their team's jersey, resulting in innumerable crimes against good taste.

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