Real models for real fashion

Written by: Rebecca Milner on May 9, 2008 at 11:45 pm | In 01 Technology & Gadget Trends, 03 Fashion & Lifestyle Trends |

The “real fashion” movement, characterized by a devoted following to the fast fashion of Shibuya 109 and the pages of magazines like Vivi, has gotten a bit more real. In addition to their stable of popular professional models, fashion magazines often use “reader models,” non-professional, non-agency wanna-be models who, in response to ads in the magazine or website, send in photos and an applications.

These “regular girls” inspire readers to personally connect with the publications and are, of course, a whole lot cheaper. Recently, however, these readers turned models have been striking out on their own.

Dokumo Girls is a fashion and beauty website penned by five reader models who had their first 15 minutes of fame in the pages of Vivi, JJ and the like. The site, which features blog-style articles on hair cuts and shopping trips, is part of the larger Dokumo Style site that contains online shops, brand tie-ins, street photo reports, and extensive advertorial all featuring reader models.

In similar style, free magazine Venus, created by a group of college women and now three issues strong, is also positioning itself as a reader model publication.

On pages interspersed with ads and advertorial, the amateur model editors strike poses and weigh in on the season’s fashion trends. They also hold twice yearly fashion shows put on by reader models and manage a website, girlsfashion.jp, that contains event and audition information.

Last month, Venus held a pop-up office on the first floor of the iconic LaForet department store in Harajuku, which served as a make-shift reader model studio. Shoppers were invited to stop by to shoot a mini-session with the hopes that the jury of peers would select their picture for the pages of the magazine.

Fashion watchers in Japan have been begging for the latest fashion revolution, and while the ultra-mainstream girlie girl looks featured in these reader model publications are hardly cutting-edge, even the purists among them have to admit that these girls are shaking things up a bit.

Tags: Fashion, LaForet, magazines, Models