How did Harajuku come about?
I’m not super knowledgeable about the history of Harajuku fashion, but I do base my style off of Harajuku, so I suppose I know more about it than most. Historically, Japan has done a better job than any other nation of maintaining ethnic and cultural tradition while adapting the best parts of other countries into its way of life. Harajuku started with people wearing more traditionally Japanese outfits, generally with a touch of modern flair. When Tokyo began rising as a major fashion city, there were a lot more western influences in clothing and pop culture. People began to combine Victorian, Elizabethan and traditional European military outfits into their Japanese/Modern World Fusion. Some people adapted more of a British punk look, others focused a lot on materialistic toys and such (hence Kawaii styles) and I’d assume that much later came the whole California-Craze, which brought about Ganguro. The Japanese often idolize the celebrities and pop culture of the Western world, and I fe
