“Decora fashion…I think that's exactly what people think of when you say 'Harajuku fashion,'” says Jana Katzenberg, a researcher at the Department of Japanese Studies at the University of Cologne in Germany. “It was very colorful, lots of layers, lots of accessories, and everything was done to the max.”
![Three participants of a recent Neo-Decora Kai event in Harajuku, Tokyo. Decora, a fashion subculture that had fallen out of favour by the end of the 2010s, is seeing a resurgence. Photo: Jonathan Vit](https://cdn.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2024/05/21/a802af0e-9c04-47e0-9ce6-058516695c52_a18f5966.jpg)
1990s stars such as Tomoe Shinohara were early inspirations for this style, and her frequent television appearances made the subculture's flashy look more widely known.
Pop stars like Kyary Pamyu Pamyu subsequently popularized the style to an even wider audience, while fashion labels like 6% Doki Doki and Super Lovers offered new interpretations of Decora's “kawaii” aesthetic.
At least globally, it was fashion that embodied the spirit of Harajuku. Decora was creative and flamboyant, full of her DIY flair that was characteristic of that era.
![Nico, the organiser of Neo-Decora Kai in Harajuku, Tokyo, poses for a photo. Photo: Jonathan Vit](https://cdn.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2024/05/20/58d90433-109d-45c5-91bd-2357240677ef_a18f5966.jpg)
Shoichi Aoki, founder of the magazine Fruit, which chronicled the heyday of Harajuku's creative fashion scene, called Decora “a uniquely Japanese fashion that can't be found anywhere else.”
Despite Decora's star status, the style had all but disappeared from the streets of Harajuku by the end of the 2010s. Like many other subcultures that once defined this Tokyo area in the public imagination, the style had fallen out of fashion.
Harajuku seemed to be rapidly becoming old news. “The number of unique stores is decreasing rapidly,'' says Aoki. “Nothing new has been born. Isn't the current situation sad?”
In 2017, Aoki published the final issue of Fruits, stating that all the cool kids were gone.
![Two participants in a recent Neo-Decora Kai event, which is dedicated to decora fashion. Photo: Jonathan Vit](https://cdn.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2024/05/20/10455c66-7a75-4d9a-b25d-450e3d2e63f4_a18f5966.jpg)
“The problem with fast fashion was that it sold creativity at a cheap price,” Aoki says. “It was basically fashion by people who weren't afraid to copy trends and designs.
“From the perspective of brands that take creativity seriously, fast fashion has been disruptive.”
Meanwhile, a new generation of fashionable young people was rediscovering Harajuku style through scanned images posted online from the pages of influential fashion magazines such as Fruits and Kera.
I gradually started studying these snapshots and learned about different Harajuku cultures… They were all different and fascinating
Soon, this revival blossomed into a broader community on social media and in real-life meet-ups such as Nico's NeoDecola Society.
Nico himself stumbled across Decora while watching makeup tutorials on YouTube. Immediately hooked, she spent time online digging into the history of the fashion that graced the streets of Tokyo 10 years before she was born.
“When I watched the video and saw the colorful hair, colorful decorations, and colorful makeup, I was a little surprised to learn about this culture,” she says.
“Gradually I started researching snapshots and learned about the different cultures of Harajuku…Lolita, Yamikawa, Gothic, Decora… They were all different and attractive. ”
Nico soon put together his first Decora look: a pink and blue shirt, colorful skirt, tights, and black shoes, and traveled from Saitama Prefecture, just outside of Tokyo, to Harajuku to show off his best attire at the time.
![Popular Harajuku shopping street Takeshita-dori is packed on a packed afternoon. Photo: Jonathan Vit](https://cdn.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2024/05/20/35e91c4d-daa4-4fbf-9990-feae3ecb0dc4_a18f5966.jpg)
However, once I stepped out of Harajuku Station, I noticed that the city had changed. Shops like 6% Doki Doki still existed, but the endless parade of young, fashionable kids that once filled the streets of Harajuku on Sundays was overshadowed.
“It was very scary,” Nico said. “I was the only one wearing Harajuku fashion. When I was alone, people looked at me curiously. I was just doing what I loved, but I was treated like a clown. I thought that wasn't true.''
She felt that the Decorah community, which was growing online, needed a place to grow and gather in the real world.
“At first I didn't have any friends,” she says. “I wanted an opportunity to meet friends, and I wanted to use this fashion as an opportunity to meet friends. Gradually, the group grew into the Neo Decora Society, attracting young people who felt the same way.”
![Nico poses for a selfie with her friends at a recent Neo-Decora Kai event. Nico stumbled upon decora while watching make-up tutorials on YouTube. Photo: Jonathan Vit](https://cdn.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2024/05/20/5cf25545-0fdd-4016-9873-4889f8276fc7_a18f5966.jpg)
This event has become a regular gathering of a new generation of Decorah fashion icons. Nico regularly interviews other fashion influencers on her YouTube and continues to network with a growing international scene formed around her colorful and creative style.
Teresa Winge, a fashion and subculture researcher at Michigan State University in the United States, says, “Japanese subcultures not only have a long lifespan, but they also revive over time.'' She said: “That doesn't usually happen in subcultures.
“It's a really interesting phenomenon to find subcultures that sustain themselves or revive themselves.”
Decora's resurgence surprised even Mr. Aoki, who has spent decades documenting the evolution of the style in Fruit magazine.
“I knew that magazines were influential, but I haven't published anything recently,” Aoki says. “It's strange to see it becoming more and more popular these days.”
![Shoichi Aoki outside a coffee shop in Harajuku, Tokyo. He is the founder of Fruits magazine. Photo: Jonathan Vit](https://cdn.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2024/05/20/c0ff845c-166d-44df-a309-62fac7072414_a18f5966.jpg)
Aoki is now selling back issues and English translations of Fruit Archive on the magazine's website to a new audience seeking media about a style that was recently dismissed as outdated.
Nico works at 6% Doki Doki and has become a regular presence in Harajuku. Nico said that he used to have no friends in the Decora community, but he has become popular through Neo Decora events, and now about 30 people gather at each social gathering.
She is happy to see the subculture take on a new life of its own.
“This is what happens when a lot of people gather together,” Nico says. “At that moment, a 'culture' is created. This culture protects you and makes it easier for newcomers.”