Hi かわいい + creative family! Happy Friday 13th ^.^
So. There’s a booming trend in Harajuku, Yami Kawaii.
And I thought today would be a perfect time to swing thru + share some thoughts and excitement about it all ~
About Yami Kawaii
From Tokyo Fashion Diaries: The word “yami” is the character for “sick” or “ill” and often alludes to physical maladies like pain or even “hospital”(病院)。There are several layers to the Yami Kawaii trend, and the first one is what you’d expect a Harajuku subculture to produce: cute, weird fashion.
A Personal Observation
As a mental health warrior with my own learning curves + learning to embrace my own crazy, I have always expressed that kawaii culture is filled to the brim with people who are hiding and faking it til they make it – expressively showing more of what they’d want their insides to feel and look like but …
then there’s mental incapability.
So we dress! We express ourselves in fashion and surround ourselves with positive + cute things (and people) to feel good and to trigger happy outwardly until we can trigger it inwardly ourselves.
I talk more about this in a chat about Afro-kawaii style + tattoo therapy with Diedre, from The Black Unicorn Project ~
And now … we can put a name, trend and sense to that very sentiment.
LONG LIVE KAWAII LIFESTYLE Y’ALL! ❤
#Yamikawaii on Instagram, Afro-Kawaii Style
Unfortunately there isn’t much representation for afro folks in the yami or menehera trends, at least not if you search Instagram. But here are some afro-kawaii style fashion + art accounts worth checking out if you want to see people who look like us, and completely open to the conversation of this sick-cute aesthetic ~
I REALLY enjoy her yami kawaii looks + make. Even her casual is always ON! ^.^
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I’ve loved Hard Decora’s style, art + hustle since she rolled across my dash. I think Facebook recommended her as a friend and yup!That was a solid. I am always inspired by her commitment to decora, especially (cuz it is a LEGIT commitment) ❤
//www.instagram.com/embed.js
And let’s not leave out freelance artist, sweet Lolita & part time magical girl, Kiara of Sugary Symbiote ❤
I’m really excited to do more art inspired this genre, while building Ippei-chan’s character profile. ^.^
But what do you think about the trend?
Gambare, minna
🎨🌈💗💕✨
Love, Imani (イマーニ)
Let’s keep in Touch!
Yami Kawaii, The Cute + Colorful Mental Health Movement was originally published on Kawaii Creative Corner
DC to Japan 