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As a fan of Japanese fashion and a resident of Los Angeles, it can be hard to acquire certain styles and specific sizes. Many popular Lolita brands are targeted toward native Japanese clients and this is well reflected in their sizing charts. The largest size that they offer is, arguably, the equivalent to a US sized medium; even with this leeway it can still be tight in certain areas such as the chest, shoulders and waist. Finding a perfect fitting for a larger sized model is hard to come by. Even as a designer, with each piece costing so much, it is anxiety inducing to modify the size ourselves.  Thankfully, these experiences can now be avoided. In 2015 KOMACHI2266531DarkLolita was launched. KOMACHI2266531DarkLolita features and specializes in Lolita inspired fashion for plus-sized women in Japan as well as the West. Reasoning for their particular sizing charts was because “seeing the lack of options for plus-size women when it comes to Japanese niche fashion in particular, [they] decided it was time for a change” and to “allow plus-size women to express themselves through their clothing and portray their personality without being limited by size.”  The designer for KOMACHI2266531DarkLolita’s debut line is DaDa, VELVET EDEN’s formal vocalist. With his history in dark wave visual kei, the inspiration for the “dark Lolita-inspired dresses with a heavy gothic aesthetic” could be seen. What is also great about this brand is that everything is designed and manufactured in Japan. This company is under the sunkrad company label, which is owned and managed by Dynamite Tommy, the godfather of visual key.
Their amazing designs are eye-catching and gorgeous. With their intricate prints, cut and textile, each piece is definitely a statement that can be worn for any event or time of day, casual or formal. Be sure to check out this amazing company and their designs. This summer will be KOMACHI2266531DarkLolita’s debut as a “new dark Lolita-inspired brand.” Everyone will be able to witness first-hand their work. KOMACHI2266531DarkLolita will debut as a featured fashion line at Anime Expo 2016’s fashion show.
Let’s face it, not all of us can be as thin as those doll-like models, and unfortunately many fashion styles are just too niche for the sizes to cater to everyone. KOMACHI2266531DarkLolita gives an opportunity for all women to explore and “to look on the outside the way they’ve always dreamed.” - Eunice  We recently stopped by The Well in Downtown LA for a special pop-up shop event featuring Taro Hanabusa of mold jewelry brand fangophilia and Takeru, vocalist of SuG and designer of million dollar orchestrA. We were lucky enough to interview Taro about his brand and some of the history behind it and what he hopes to accomplish in the future! fangophilia is a custom mold brand that was created by Taro Hanabusa in 2012. It features mainly teeth and finger pieces created in silver, but more elaborate pieces can be made to the customer's specifications. Each piece is created using a custom mold process that ensures that each is unique to its owner and is hand-crafted by Taro himself. His brand has proven to be quite popular overseas with pop-ups in many countries like Singapore, Thailand, and the US and can be spotted on celebrities such as G-Dragon, CL, as well as many others. A-To-J: Hi! Thank you for this interview! Let's jump right into this. We understand that you were a dentist before? Taro: Yes, I am a dentist. A-To-J: How did you go from being a dentist to designing custom mold jewelry? Taro: When I was working as a dentist I usually made molds of patient's teeth. So, my jewelry design is very similar to my dentistry work, except that I'm making custom body jewelry. I started my brand about four years ago with this idea in mind. A-To-J: So you're still a practicing dentist? Taro: Yes, but now I don't have enough time to do dentistry work. So now I only work one or two days a week as a dentist. The other days I make jewelry. A-To-J: What is the inspiration behind the name “fangophilia” Taro: About four years ago I started my brand. At that time I was making on teeth jewelry pieces and I was often making fangs. So the brand name came from that.
A-To-J: Do you mind explaining the vision and concept design behind “fangophilia”? Taro: I've liked body modification for a long time, like piercings and tattoos. I think my jewelry design is a kind of body modification, especially things like the pointed ear and teeth pieces. So my brand concept is kind is sort of like body modification. A-To-J: I heard a quote from you that stated the way you make your silver pieces is not currently being done by any other designer. Can you explain to us a little bit about what that method entails and how you physically create your products? Taro: Most of my jewelry is custom made by making molds of the customer's body parts. So for example if the customer wants custom teeth, I'll make a custom plaster model of the customer's teeth and use that to make the piece. So my jewelry is individually made by hand each time. Last time I came to the US I came to LA and New York and stayed about one month. During that time I got about eighty orders and had to make and take back so many plaster models! A-To-J: About how long does it take to make each piece? Taro: It depends on the size and design. To make the seventy or eighty pieces that I just mentioned I needed more than one month to make that amount. So when I'm in Tokyo I'm making jewelry every day. It's so hard! (Laughs) A-To-J: You make a lot of teeth pieces, which are relatively small, but do you also make pieces that are larger and take more time to make? Taro: Yes I do. Sometimes the customer orders teeth, finger, or ear jewelry, but other times they order face masks or big pieces like the entire neck or clavicle area. My biggest order was a whole hand. All silver! It was a really big order! (Laughs)
A-To-J: What’s the biggest challenge you face in creating these types custom mold jewelry pieces? Taro: It's hard to make the big pieces since they take more planning and time. I plan to make a lot more full face masks and other big pieces again though in the future. A-To-J: What is the greatest compliment you’ve received on your pieces? Taro: My jewelry is kind of a "strange" style of jewelry. Many famous artists are interested in my jewelry though, like Lady Gaga, Marilyn Manson and KPop stars like CL and G-Dragon and others. Them liking my work is the biggest compliment I get. A-To-J: I understand that “fangophilia” was launched in 2012 - what are the main differences between it’s inception and today? Taro: When I started my brand no one knew it and my style is very different from "normal" jewelry, so for about one year it was not doing so good. After that year though my brand became famous little by little. Now I go to many foreign countries to take orders. I'm going to Europe in the Fall and New York in November. So the difference is that now I go to many foreign countries to get orders made. It'll be my first time in Europe too this fall, so I'm very excited. A-To-J: Where do you see the brand in ten years? Taro: I'm not really sure, but I know that I want to make bigger and bigger pieces. Like a whole body piece or something like that! A-To-J: Is there a reason you work mainly in silver? Taro: My pieces are mainly in silver, but sometimes customers order pieces in gold, but gold is so expensive. A-To-J: Is there any other brand or person who you would like to do a collaboration with in the future? Taro: This time I did a collaboration with Takeru (of SuG) to make this finger ring. Besides that I have some silver jewelry designer friends and I sometimes collaborate with them.
A-To-J: I saw an article that Korean Pop singer, CL, and the American artist, Nicki Minaj, are fans of your work. Have you made any other interesting connections while traveling with your brand? Taro: I met Marilyn Mason about five or six times and now I think I'm almost friends with him. When I saw him last fall I got a tattoo from him! (Laughs) A-To-J: I heard that you were just in New York for a pop-up shop as well, how did that go? Taro: Yes I did a pop-up shop in New York last month. It was a very good turnout. A-To-J: Did you learn anything from that experience? Taro: Well, my English is not so good, but most of my customers are foreigners so now I need to learn more English! (Laughs) A-To-J: Did you experience any culture shock with your American customers as compared to your native Japanese clients? Taro: I don't really have Japanese customers...so I think 95% of my customers are foreign people. Only 5% of my customers are Japanese. So there isn't that much to compare them too! A-To-J: What are you looking forward to most with this event in Los Angeles? Taro: Now I have many friends in Los Angeles, so for me Los Angeles is very fun! (Laughs) A-To-J: Can you tell us about the special collaboration piece you brought to this event that was designed with Takeru of SuG and million dollar orchestrA? Taro: At first Takeru called me about the collaboration and after this he drew the design out and sent it to me. I made the shape of it after that based on his original design.
A-To-J: Who is the model for the finger?
Taro: This is actually a standard size and not based on either me or Takeru! (Laughs) A-To-J: To follow up with that, is there a piece or pieces that are your favorite from today’s showcase? Why? Taro: My favorite pieces are always the biggest ones. The face mask and whole hand are my favorites from these. Most customers don't order big pieces though. Most of them want teeth, ear, or fingers because they're easy to wear. No one really walks around wearing the face pieces, these are mainly show pieces for photos and such. I want to make more pieces like that though in the future. A-To-J: If there is one thing that you would like your American fans to walk away with understanding about “fangophilia” today, what would that be? Taro: If the people are interested in my jewelry I want them to come to my events and feel free to have fun! (Laughs) A-To-J: What have you learned with your international showcase that you started in March of this year, going to Singapore, New York, and finally Los Angeles? Taro: LA I think is the best place for me because I have so many customers in Los Angeles. I also have many customers in Thailand and Singapore, but I have never been to Europe. I think I have many customers in Europe, like in the UK and Paris, so I'm very excited to go to Europe! A-To-J: I understand that most of your business comes from abroad, what’s your method for successfully reaching these international audiences? Taro: For me social networking is very important. For me Instagram is the best tool to connect with my foreign fans because anyone can see it. It's very important to me. A-To-J: What are the future plans or projects that you have in mind for “fangophilia”? Taro: Now this year I will go to many countries to take orders, but now that I have so many orders every month I don't have times to make new pieces, like samples. So when I have more time I want to make more samples that are big pieces! (Laughs) A-To-J: Do you have any special messages for your American fans? Taro: Do you really think I have fans? A-To-J: Yes! Of course you do! Taro: Message...I come to LA often, but I want to go to other cities besides LA. So if there is someone who wants to order big pieces I can go to other cities, so if there are people who want to order please contact me! A-To-J: Thank you very much for your time! To learn more about fangophilia please visit: Website: http://www.fangophilia.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fangophilia Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fangophilia/ The above interview was conducted by Manuel Figueroa with on-site and post translation by Christina Aoun. All photos by Manuel Figueroa.  Recently A-To-J Connections was lucky enough to interview Takeru, vocalist for visual kei band SuG and designer for the brand million dollar orchestrA. This interview took place in Los Angeles during his pop-up event that brought together both his brand and the unique mold jewelry pieces created by Taro Hanabusa and his brand fangophilia. This event allowed fans to pre-order pieces from both brands and to meet Takeru himself. An edited video of the interview can be found at the conclusion of this article. Takeru is the vocalist for the band SuG who were prominent in both the visual kei and oshare kei scenes in the mid 2000s. Over the course of their ten year career they have released five albums and eighteen singles. They recently released their third mini album "VIRGIN" in March and will release their nineteenth single "SICK'S" later this year. million dollar orchestrA is a "street gothic style" brand created and designed by Takeru. The designs are closely linked to the music of SuG with the current line being named "VIRGIN" after their most recent release. A-To-J: How did you come up with the name “million dollar orchestrA”? Takeru: It's a funny reason actually. I wanted to start my fashion brand six years ago and my staff said to me "You need to name your brand tomorrow". So I went home and I thought "What's the name? What's the name?" Well, when I was younger I was in band, and the conductor was the "orchestra leader". For me, both as an artist and a designer, I saw myself as that kind of leader so that's how the name came about. Also, I want to make a million dollars! (Laughs) A-To-J: What is the inspiration behind your designs for million dollar orchestrA? Takeru: SuG's music inspires the designs. We have a shirt that has a "SICK'S" design on it and there is a SuG song that is also titled "SICK'S". Every time I do a song with SuG I make a design to go with it. Our new collection is "VIRGIN", named after our new mini album.
A-To-J: In particular, what is the concept behind your newest line, “VIRGIN”? It has a great cool punk feel to it. Takeru: I love the concept of the word "virgin". It's a hard concept to explain. Do you know "shoki shoudou" (first impulsive action)? It's sort of like the spirit of when I was a junior high student, you know that sort of "teen spirit". "VIRGIN" as a line is meant to capture that same idea of teenage spirit. For the songs, in the mini album it's like I'm singing them for the first time. A-To-J: You mentioned that “VIRGIN” is also the name of the most recent SuG album, but is there any other reason for this name? Takeru: One of the reasons I named both the album and fashion line "VIRGIN" is because of "Virgin Suicides". It's a famous movie that Sophia Copolla directed. It inspired me along with the idea of "teen spirit". "Virgin" is also my favorite word. A-To-J: Among all of the fashion pieces you’ve designed, do you have a favorite? Takeru: All of them are my favorites, but this leather jacket is the best. My favorite style is "rock" style. Rider jackets with boots or rock-style t-shirts. Inside this jacket, it is all original patchwork. I cut out the paper by hand and made it all by myself. I made other designs in this line with this patchwork style. Whenever you see patchwork I have done it all myself. A-To-J: Is it hard to do all that by hand? Takeru: It takes me about one hour. One hour while listening to rock music! (Laughs)
A-To-J: You’ve been singing with SuG for over 10 years now and in bands before SuG - did you always want to be a fashion designer or did it come up as an interest later in life? Takeru: At first I wanted to wear original clothes for SuG in our releases. Back then that was the only reason. I didn't want to be a designer, I just wanted to wear original clothes. A-To-J: Also, SuG as a band transitioned in recent years from the look and style they had at debut. What brought about this change? Takeru: I'm not really sure why.... Every time we do something new, we change. It's emotion; it's my heart saying to me to do what I want to do. A-To-J: Does your music with SuG ever influence your fashion designs? Takeru: Yes, all the time. A-To-J: Do the designs of million dollar orchestrA ever influence SuG's music? Takeru: Kind of. Sometimes I come up with a design for million dollar orchestrA and then I come up with a song afterwards. Sometimes. A-To-J: What are the difficulties you find trying to balance your both your career as a musician and as a fashion designer? Takeru: It is the same I think. Music, design, writing lyrics, all these things, they're all creation. Creating these things is my whole life. I can take one creation and use it to help another. My mind and body are like a factory, for me everything is creation. A-To-J: You're also coming out in a movie called "Shoujo Tsubaki" Takeru: You know! (Laughs) A-To-J: It's based on a popular horror manga. What are your thoughts about this project? Takeru: I was really surprised by the offer. My favorite character from the manga is Kanabun and that's the role they offered me. When they told me I was like: "Eh? Kanabun?!" A-To-J: So you were a fan of it before? Takeru: Yes I was! Unfortunately there are no plans to bring it to the USA. I'm really sad about that. A-To-J: Is this your first time working with fashion in the United States? Takeru: Yeah, it is my first time. I hope to work here more in the future. I traveled to New York before for three weeks. It's my favorite place, New York, but I wanted to see other parts of the US. Now that I'm in L.A. it's like my little dream came true. (Laughs) A-To-J: What sort of reaction do you anticipate for your clothing line here in the US? Takeru: From the few people I've met here so far I don't know... I hope it will be accepted though! A-To-J: Can you tell us about some of the pieces you chose for this pop-up event? Takeru: This patchwork shirt is a favorite of mine. I made much of this piece myself. My style of music is in it. There's a lot of artists here.
A-To-J: Can you tell us about your outfit today? Takeru: The chief point of my outfit today is actually this jacket I mentioned earlier. It's my first time making a rider jacket. The rider jacket is the most important clothes for me since it represents my fashion brand. A-To-J: Are you a fan of any US fashion brands? Takeru: America brands? One of my favorite brands is Supreme. Do you know of it? A-To-J: No, I hadn't actually heard of it before. [Note: We had misheard his answer.] Takeru: Really?! It's a hip-hop style; street culture. Supreme is actually very famous in Tokyo! A-To-J: What are some of your favorite Japanese fashion brands besides your own? Takeru: Japanese brands? Junya Watanabe and UNDERCOVER. UNDERCOVER is my favorite Japanese brand. A-To-J: We noticed on your Instagram you posted a photo of a "VIRGIN" metal ring that was made in collaboration with fangophilia. Do you mind explaining what the thought was behind the design? Takeru: Yes. When we first talked about the collaboration I drew the design out by pencil. It's almost the exact design that I drew that day.
A-To-J: So million dollar orchestrA was launched in 2010, correct? Takeru: Correct! A-To-J: What are the biggest differences between the fashion line when it started over 6 years ago as compared to today? Takeru: High level up! (Laughs) Now my fashion concept is "street gothic style"; the street style and the gothic style and look mixed together. It's an original concept I think. A-To-J: Is there anything you want to do while you're in the U.S.? Takeru: I want to shoot a gun! (Laughs) Yeah, I think it'll be a good experience for me. Maybe it'll be an inspiration for the next album! A-To-J: What are some of your future plans for Million $ Orchestra? Takeru; I try to make all the items available to everyone in the world. Now my fans can buy million dollar orchestrA items via Paypal, but my website is only in Japanese. So I'm trying to translate the website into English and other languages. Hopefully sometime in the future, they can buy it easier than now. A-To-J: What are some of the future plans for SuG? Takeru: We are trying to make a world tour. It's what we hope for. Also, in the summer we're going to be doing our first oneman show in Mexico. We're going to try to do one in the USA too. A-To-J: Do you have a special message for your American fans? Takeru: Thank you for supporting us in SuG! We will try to do a USA tour soon! It's something we really want to do! So if you're support is big then I think we'll be able to make it! Thank you! We at A-To-J Connections thank Takeru for his time and encourage everyone to check out both million dollar orchestrA and SuG! Links will be provided below. For More Information: million dollar orchestrA: http://million-d-orchestra.com/ SuG: https://sug-web.jp/top.asp The above interview was conducted by Manuel Figueroa with translation and assistance by Christina Aoun. All photography by Manuel Figueroa. Interview with Takeru Vocalist of SuG & Designer of million dollar orchestrA
Make-Up Used
•Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion •MAC Coppering eyeshadow •MAC Carbon eyeshadow (used for eyebrows as well) •Covergirl Invisible Concealer (To clean the cut crease and eyebrows) •Kiko Milano Black Gel Eyeliner •Urban Decay Revolt eyeshadow (as an inner corner highlight) •Maybelline Pumped Up Colossal mascara •Top lashes are from Daiso •Bottom lashes are Ever Lash #EL43 (I cut the ends and divided them into three seperate single lashes) •Face jewels are Cina Nail Creations Nautical Pearls -Kaz |
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