Fresh Fruits

Description

Following on from the enormous success of Fruits, Fresh Fruits features the latest from Tokyo based Fruits Magazine. Fresh Fruits uncovers how street fashion has changed in the downtown districts of Tokyo as seen through the eye of Japanese fashion photographer Shoichi Aoki. Sublime in its simplicity, Fresh Fruits captures the strange and often ‘surreal’ fashion sense of Japanese teenagers

Shoichi Aoki (b.1955) is a leading publisher and photographer of street fashion in Japan. He is the editor and sole photographer of the prime popular fashion magazines Street, Fruits and Tune. Fruits magazine originated in 1997 and to this day records and celebrates the vibrancy of Japanese street fashion. It all began when his eye was caught by two girls on a street corner outside his office, doing nothing in particular, in tartan duffle coats. His impulse was to take their picture: the result became Fruits. Aoki’s uniqueness is revealed by his sensitive eye for individuality and for the contagious intensity of cult status. His creation of Fruits captured the essence of a surging eruption in street fashion in Harajuku, Tokyo, whilst also fuelling it. He created a new niche: a forum for identity formation, transformation and affirmation in the avant-garde fashion-world of Tokyo. In turn, he has immortalized the bold details of teenage reality, and the bright colours of teenage expression and escapism. Culminating in Fresh Fruits, he exposes with force the energy of self-perception and self-definition: a concept with which anyone can identify. This unprecedented surge is in perpetual re-invention, yet his images attain timeless insight.

“A funky, funny look at Tokyo’s teen street fashion – all Vivienne Westwood and DIY chic. Guaranteed to give you that happy-all-over-feeling.”—Elle

“Crucial ingredients are cartoon, fluffy and frilly, matched with a scrupulous attention to detail… A jolly homage to innovation and the teen dreams of Japan.”—The Daily Telegraph

“My Little Pony bags rub stomachs with the Tellytubbies in a kaleidoscopic candyfloss fantasy of arrested development. Fabulous… Don’t read it with a hangover.”—Gay Times

“Bright, wild and eccentric.”—Amateur Photographer

“Vibrant and fascinating.”—Guardian