In Cluster Mag’s new series “Brick and Mortar,” we take a look at boutiques in the US and abroad that are re-defining fashion and physical goods culture, proving that an IRL destination is relevant in an era of online shopping. For our first installment, we talked to Iriki Obama, owner of Shibuya-based store Radd Lounge. Be sure to check out Radd Lounge’s Mixcloud playlist (below) while you read about the musical influences behind the Radd Lounge looks.
Translation by Harry Sato and Maro Kariya. Words by Cluster editor Stefan Nickum.
On any given Tumblr day, you may find yourself peering into the bedroom setting of a teen girl’s selfie, watching homemade BDSM videos, or simply marveling that yet another kitty .GIF is impossibly, inexplicably funny (you’ll probably re-blog it anyways). Tumblr worlds are numerous- seemingly infinite- and yet become woven together through visual communication, creating small worlds of intersecting tastes in fashion, music, sex, spirituality, etc.
Scrolling down the Tumblr galaxy recently, I stumbled on the style samples of Shibuya fashion boutique and online store Radd Lounge, where I discovered what might be the fashion manifestation of my Tumblr network—Oakland Raiders gear obsessives SpaceGhostPurrp and his Raider Klan, A$AP Rocky collaborations with New York streetwear brand Black Scale, yin-yangs, gothic spiritual symbols, and the cartoon Adidas sneakers by L.A. designer Jeremy Scott.
Inspired largely by underground American rap and R&B, and the personal styles of Radd Lounge’s favorite artists, the shop’s aesthetic looks like their favorite music sounds. As inheritors of the Japanese fashion subculture visual kei (system), where punk and metal musicians would perform in elaborate Victorian dresses styled with punk hair cuts and knee-high pleather boots, Radd Lounge represents a next wave in visual kei, where looks are a composite of favorite Internet sub-genres and the independent designers who best reflect them.
But even more than the evolution of visual kei in Japanese fashion, Radd Lounge’s aesthetic mirrors a very specific matrix of visual and musical experiences, a shifting cluster of sights and sounds residing in small Internet ecosystems. Taken literally, Radd Lounge is a visual system that maps these underworlds over the real-life body, making brief and delightfully chaotic sense of Internet subcultures that tumble down a sensory rabbit hole and show no signs of stopping.
RADD LOUNGE PLAYLIST VOL.01 by Radd Lounge on Mixcloud
1.ラッドラウンジはいつ頃オープンしましたか？ 今年2012年2月4日に前の親会社から正式に独立しオープンしました。
When did you open Radd Lounge?
ラッドラウンジはいつ頃オープンしましたか？
Radd Lounge split off from its parent company and formally opened on February 4th, 2012.
2. オープンしたきっかけは何ですか？また、何に影響を受けオープンに至りましたか？
Why did you open the store, and what influenced you?
オーナーが中学生(1998年頃)にW<やCYBER DOG, VIVIAN WESTWOODや
20471120, CHRISTOPHER NEMETHなどのブランドに、人生を変える位の
衝撃を受けたあの時代(1998年頃)の原宿カルチャーの勢いを戻すため。
As a middle schooler (around 1998), I was heavily influenced by W<, Cyber Dog, Vivian Westwood, 20471120, Christopher Nemeth, and many other brands in an effort to reestablish the culture of Harajuku during that time period.
3. 今まで好きだったブティックやショップありますか？理由もお答えください。?
Until now, has there been any boutique or shops that you found inspiring?
特にありません。
There hasn’t been any really.
4. どのようにデザイナーを選びますか？
How do you go about choosing the labels RADD LOUNGE carries?
コレクションの世界観と、今自分達の気になっている音楽のジャンルの雰囲気を感じさせるアプローチ。
Our approach is based on the proposed collection’s world views, as well as matching the feeling we get from a collection with an atmosphere of a music genre that interests us.
5. 今の日本のファッションのおもしろいところを教えてください。?
Can you tell us about some current influences on fashion in Japan today?
日本全体は分かりませんが、原宿ファッションに言える事は
さまざまなファッションや音楽ジャンルをごちゃ混ぜしたところです。
たとえばSpaceghostpurrpみたいにキャップにバンダナを巻いてA$AP Rockyみたいな
グリルつけているけど、聴いている音楽はBeach HouseやYouth Lagoon, Owen Pallettを
聴いていたりとか(逆もありえます)。あんまり一つのジャンルやカテゴリーにとらわれていない印象を受けます。
I don’t know about fashion all over Japan but if we’re talking about Harajuku fashion, it has to be about the various jumbles of fashion and music genres. For example, winding a bandana in a cap like Spaceghostpurp or wearing a grill like A$AP Rocky. Or styles from artists like Beach House, Youth Lagoon, or Owen Pallett. There isn’t really one genre or category that people gather impressions from.
6. アメリカやヨーロッパのファッションのおもしろいところは何ですか？
What is interesting about fashion in America, Europe, or other countries?
自由なところ。あとオーストラリア発ブランドのアイテムの色合いはいつも感激しています。
The freedom. I’m particularly impressed by the color tone of items from brands based in Australia.
7. ラッドラウンジに音楽が影響しているのは明白ですが、ショップに一体感を出すために聴く音楽（ジャンル、アーティスト、曲、アルバム）はありますか？
It’s clear that music has an effect on Radd Lounge, but is there certain music (Genre, Artist, Song, Album) that you guys play in the shop regularly?
ジャンル (Genres): CHILLWAVE, DREAMWAVE, WITCHHOUSE, GOTH POP, SEAPUNK, SLIMEPUNK, CLOUD RAP, TRILLWAVE.
8. 音楽以外（例：書籍、映画、インターネット、東洋的精神）に影響を受けているものはありますか？
Aside from music what else influences Radd Lounge?
お花（これからお店の前に花壇を造る予定です。）
Flowers (we’re planning to have a flower bed in front of the store now).
9. ここ１０年くらい日本のファッションはアメリカ的な風潮に占められてたように思うのですが、それが今どのように変わってきているのかお答えください。?
For about ten years Japan’s Fashion has had American tendencies, how has that changed now?
日本では完全に二極化していて、ファストファッション(H&MやFOREVER21みたいなショップ)か、
RADD LOUNGEのようなセレクトショップやブランドショップで買うかになっていて、
中間の層がいなくなっているように思える。
Japan had a complete, bipolar conversion: people can buy from fast fashion shops (such as H&M, Forever 21), or select/brand shops, like Radd Lounge, but that middle layer has disappeared.
10. 目標として、コラボレーションをしたいアーティスト、デザイナー、著名人などはいますか？
Are there any artists/designers/celebrities you would like to collaborate with?
アーティスト (Artists) : Christian Riese Lassen, o F F love, Grimes, Salem, Phèdre,
DeathGrips, NGUZUNGUZU, White Ring, HOLLAGRAMZ, Elite Gymnastics,
Ill Studio, Small Black, Lil B, Lil Ugly Mane, Denzel Aquarius’Killa CuRRy
oOoOO, Jonathan Zawada.
デザイナー(ブランド)(Designers) : Henrik Vibskov, Stolen GIrlfriends Club, Actual Pain, Underground
