Transnational Bricolage: Gothic Lolita and the Political Economy of Fashion

In the streets of my hometown of Melbourne, too, I can see the evidence of this gothic turn. On the tram I see people wearing t-shirts decorated with skulls and skeletons. Posters on the tram shelter advertise the latest vampire movie, Twilight, while bookshops carry the Twilight series of novels. Members of the Goth subculture are featured in weekend supplements on street styles. Fashion magazines use the University's neo-gothic cloisters as a backdrop for their fashion shoots. In the last year or so, there has been a series of exhibitions devoted to the 'gothic' style in fashion and in art. Taken collectively, these exhibitions have been characterised by an eclectic mix of haute couture and street fashion, high art and popular culture. The discussion has spilled over from the elite spaces of the art gallery and into the popular media. The gothic influence is evident in low and high culture, from Melbourne to Paris, New York to London, Harajuku to Auckland. Some of this gothic revival has a particularly Japanese inflection. One of the fashion styles which has featured in these exhibitions is a style which has come to be known as 'Gothic Lolita.' This style is associated with the street fashions of the Harajuku region of Tokyo, but has also gained a following around the world. There are shops devoted to this style in places as diverse as Melbourne, Sydney, Berkeley, Paris and of course, Tokyo and Osaka. There are websites devoted to Gothic Lolita clothing and accessories, blogs devoted to chronicling and reflecting on the style, and books and magazines which document this and other 'Tokyo Looks'. Relatively mainstream bookshops also carry manga and animation with gothic themes. This is an example of transnational fandom focused on fashion. However, in common with other examples of subcultural fandom, there is a generic profusion which sees related narratives and motifs appearing in different cultural forms. In addition to the clothing and accessories, there are guidebooks, manga, animation, movies, video games and fiction. These are also translated and adapted into other languages and cultural contexts. As these styles are consumed and adapted in disparate places, businesses develop in order to support the dissemination of these styles. As fandom and consumption take on a transnational character, there is also a transnational political economy of design, production, distribution, marketing, publication, commentary and consumption. Adapted from the source d