10 Kawaii Fashion Snaps From Tokyo’s Street Scene

Though Tokyo isn't part of the big four Fashion Weeks, it doesn't suffer from a lack of sartorial inspiration — especially when it comes to street fashion. What's happening on the runways is boundary-pushing and trend-making (a topic we'll tackle in an upcoming post), but what regular folks are wearing out and about — in Harajuku and beyond — makes the most extravagantly decked-out Lincoln Center showgoer look normcore.

In the new book Tokyo Adorned (available now), photographer Thomas Card captures some of Tokyo's most niche, obsessive, inspiring fashion tribes that go way beyond what you thought you knew about Harajuku's Lolita girls. Showcasing some of the more obscure kawaii movements, such as Party Baby and My Little Pony as well as more recognized ones like Steampunk and Lolita, Card captures the unbridled joy of dressing up that's unique to Tokyo. Click through for our interview with Card, where he talks about the specific cultural aspects of Tokyo that nurture this type of creativity, what drives women (and men) to adopt these style sensibilities, and the meaning behind "frog's puke."