h. Naoto gothic lolita fashion designer extraordinaire

I recently posted about the upcoming h.Naoto goth night. Although  I didn’t get to the fashion show itself, I did drop into Hirooka’s new store in Cat St, Harajuku – and managed to have a chat with him, model some clothes and take pictures of the collection.

The store itself is not very prepossessing at the moment, being behind scaffolding. I found it as a) I knew it was next to Putumayo, and b) because it had posters on the front door advertising the goth night.

Inside the walls were stark white like a gallery, to display the clothing effectively. And what clothing! Fabric had been treated in various ways to achieve texture and interest – bleached, frayed, distressed etc, to lend that very gothic feel.

I tried on a tailored halter top that was very aristocratic in feel, made of brocade – then they snapped me in it (please excuse the lack of make-up)

I was wearing some Black Peace Now bloomer/shorts I’d bought the day before in La Foret:

The shop staff/models (see below) then spotted my Cue striped jacket and wanted to see it on me…

and when they saw me in the jacket, one gave me her tophat to wear, and declared me kodona (aristocrat), or as I like to put it, a Dandy. Here is the Fashionate Dandy:

I had to get a shot of the man himsef, Hirooka Naoto. He’d been draping a girl in various Naoto clothes, so I got him to pose with her. He’s such a nice bloke!

And here’s the video of the show: