FRUiTS is dead. It's the end of an era. Who would have thought it? The mood board that ushered in the millennium, gone just like that. It's a testament to the age as it is, with an inexorable current of information passing our fingertips by the millisecond. Harajuku has been outmoded, in many ways. The meticulous documentation of outré styles by Bill Cunningham or The Sartorialist has become something people channel through their very own Instagram accounts.
As trite an observation it might be in 2017, the street style blog has fully consumed this space, and more. The likes of Bryanboy and Susie Bubble command an influence and salaries that make many dream of quitting their day jobs. The conspicuous parading of Fruits Harajuku street style can be seen as a direct precursor to the style blog as we know it. The "incidental" tableaux, posing, curation of brands with what shows, and what doesn't. These are all of the tropes we understand today just from scrolling down our Instagram feeds, instead of having to flick through a purpose-made magazine.
Another similarity is the idea of effortlessness. At some point in the late 20th century, effort became terribly old-fashioned. Perhaps instilled in intermingling of modernist thought and Eastern sensibilities as the avant-garde took Paris by storm in the late 1970s. The intensive labouring of lighting, styling and quirkily set pieces of furniture or picture framing is all hidden from view, and the end image is emphasised.
But it's not all bad... The popularity of the style photograph has made the genuinely great publications rise to the top by their choice of photographer. What not to photograph becomes just as important as what to photograph. It's also become a key and sure-fire way of understanding the movement of trends, the kind that often catch wind exclusively through the fibre optic cables. Though, in these ways, the spirit of Harajuku lives on. Coco of coco_pinkprincess is a prime example of a viral Harajuku phenomenon. At only 6 years old, she has 161 pictures on Instagram, though most impressively, sixty-five thousand followers on Instagram. In every picture, there she is, exhibiting the outrageousness of self-styling against the signature bustling backdrop of Tokyo. An inventive mixture of luxury brands and creative do-it-yourself styling with brooches and pins, vintage pieces and typically worn out Converse trainers or Vans.
Another blog called peoplewearingcommedesgarcon catalogues just that. Again, the us versus them contrast of creative and avant-garde self styling against the backdrop of normality, at fashion week or just out and about. Comme des Garcons with its often times amorphous shapes and jutting asymmetry has all the appeal of the mentioned Harajuku parading. Though FRUiTS might be gone, the spirit is still there. The daring, performativity of youth; irreverence, the fantastical and obsessive uniqueness of self-styling inform the present day more than ever.
