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Ametora: How Japan Saved American Style

  • Book
  • Dec 1, 2015
  • #Fashion #History #Design
W. David Marx
@wdavidmarx
(Author)
www.goodreads.com
Hardcover
4.7/5 213 ratings
Hardcover Kindle Audiobook
See on Goodreads
4.36/5 620 ratings
2 Recommenders
3 Mentions
Look closely at any typically “American” article of clothing these days, and you may be surprised to see a Japanese label inside. From high-end denim to oxford button-downs, Japanes... Show More

Look closely at any typically “American” article of clothing these days, and you may be surprised to see a Japanese label inside. From high-end denim to oxford button-downs, Japanese designers have taken the classic American look—known as ametora, or “American traditional”—and turned it into a huge business for companies like Uniqlo, Kamakura Shirts, Evisu, and Kapital. This phenomenon is part of a long dialogue between Japanese and American fashion; in fact, many of the basic items and traditions of the modern American wardrobe are alive and well today thanks to the stewardship of Japanese consumers and fashion cognoscenti, who ritualized and preserved these American styles during periods when they were out of vogue in their native land.

In Ametora, cultural historian W. David Marx traces the Japanese assimilation of American fashion over the past hundred and fifty years, showing how Japanese trendsetters and entrepreneurs mimicked, adapted, imported, and ultimately perfected American style, dramatically reshaping not only Japan’s culture but also our own in the process.

(From Goodreads)

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Number of Pages: 296

ISBN: 0465059732

ISBN-13: 9780465059737

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Noah Smith @NoahSmith · Feb 1, 2022
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A great history book about this process of reciprocal cultural imitation/mutation is "Ametora", by @wdavidmarx:
Noah Smith @NoahSmith · May 31, 2022
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My reviews of two awesome books about modern Japanese culture: Ametora, by @wdavidmarx, and Pure Invention, by @Matt_Alt:
William Gibson @WilliamGibson · Jan 3, 2023
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Highly recommend this, for those interested in this sort of thing.
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