GYARU LAB
Gyaru (ギャル) is a Japanese transliteration of the English word 'gal'. The name originated from a 1970s brand of jeans called "gurls" wich was a sub brand of Wrangler.
Japanese understand their own history of street culture as a constant succession of juvenile tribes who dominate the landscape for a few years in a specific style and then disappear as quickly as they arrived. The exception that confirms the rule is the Gyaru subculture, which existed in one form or another for two decades. Although the style has changed dramatically several times, and if shattered in distinct factions, some principles remained stable: colored hair anywhere between brown and deep blond, relatively sexy clothes, youthful embrace, chronic shopping in Shibuya 109 and generally an irreverent attitude .
Gyaru, in other words, was not actually a single tribe or subculture, but instead something like a flow of style: with each incarnation radically influencing the next along the way.
There is no exact date or even year when Gyaru first appeared on the streets of Shibuya. Its arrival was gradual and unexpected. In the early 1990s the nation began to notice a swarm of high school girls with brown hair, short school skirts and slightly tanned skin clinging to European luxury handbags and wearing Burberry scarves. And, suddenly, they were widely known under the name of kogyaru (コ ギ ャ ル).
Shibuya is now famous as the birthplace and mecca of the modern Gyaru style on the western side of Tokyo.
Gyaru has numerous sub-styles. Basically, it applies to every woman who decides to exaggerate her stereotype, as if she could represent an archetype in a playful way. A living doll.
Gyaru will underline the rebellious school details, in the case of the Kogal; She can use a black face to strengthen an improbable tan, if it is a Ganguro; A B-Gal, or Black Gal, will be wearing hip-hop hats and broad outfits; And Hime Gyaru will be dressed as real rococo princesses.
The Gyaru Lab sequence of photos represents the experience of this artist within some Gyaru sub-styles.
Gaijin- Gyaru
Haady-Gyaru
Onee-Gyaru
Onee-Gyaru
Ane-Gyaru
Ane-Gyaru
