Japanese street style: Punk Lolita

Of all the Lolita looks, Punk Lolita is the style most obviously rooted in British street culture. Chains, spikes and safety pins accompany wild hair cuts, bondage trousers and in-your-face T-shirts. Vivienne Westwood, doyenne of 1970s Punk, is the goddess and heroine for Punk Lolita designers and her hallmark use of tartan is de rigueur. As with Gothic Lolita, the incorporation of cutesy motifs and cuddly accessories gives the look a sugariness very different in spirit from its British antecedents.

Detail of Putumayo t-shirt

Putumayo

Putumayo opened its first shop in Harajuku’s Laforet department store in 1990. It specialises in mid-range teenage and young women’s clothing which mixes hard-core Punk with whimsical girliness. On the outfit displayed here, an alley cat with an eye-patch and spiked collar sports a British-style crown, while playing card motifs on the frilly skirt recall Alice in Wonderland’s Queen of Hearts.