Awaking from my self-imposed exile  I see lots of exciting things happening in the alternative fashion world, one of which is the new magazine being launched by D’s Valentine – Artism creator and Alamode Magazine publisher. I’ve carefully hung onto my issues of Alamode Magazine,  being snapshots in time of the current japanese underground gothic/alternative music scene.

Now D’s gone one step further and is about to release a new magazine featuring the FASHION of the japanese alternative gothic/lolita/cyber/fetish/akiba-kei scenes: Underground Clothed’s.

Note the sexy back of Kiki on the cover 🙂 While Kikirara Shoten of Dangerous Nude is well known to lovers of Japanese gothic fashion, along with Takuya Angel and Kenzo-A of Rituals (largely thanks to Kera magazine), there are a lot of emerging labels that are barely known outside of Nippon. PureOne Corset Works and Pay *des* Fees I’m acquainted with, due to their ongoing presence in the goth clubs.  Strange Artifact, a steampunk band with an accessories line, I learned of during my last trip in November.  But so many are new to me : la Reinette, A closet of Alice, marchenmerry, Rouge, fake-fantasy…the list goes on.

Underground Clothed’s will be available at Takuya Angel, Dangerous Nude and Closet Child.  It is also available to order online at ARTiSM, or at Closet Child’s online webstore. I imagine in time it will be available at the various stores throughout Japan that stock Alamode Magazine.

Some pics to whet your appetite:

(Doesn’t Kikirara look like blogger Cheesie here? Or is it just me?)

While I wasn’t going to return to japan for a while…I’m now considering a flying visit in March. If I manage it, I’ll definitely be bringing back copies of the mag, as well as more info about the various labels and stores in it.  (I also have an interview that I did with Kiki at her home last year, that will make its way to these pages).  Watch this space.