Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Race Plays an Important Role in Japanese Magazines Too


Europe and the US aren't the only ones dealing with featuring the right type of models based on their ethnicity.

Generally speaking, in Japan, as a magazine becomes more "high" fashion, the amount of Japanese ancestry in their models decreases.


Magazines for the everyday girl in Japan tend to feature full or close to full Japanese models to remain as true to reality as possible, so that readers can easily relate to the models they see and picture themselves in these outfits. Examples: CanCam and Popteen


High fashion magazines speak to women with a penchant for European luxury brands. To keep the focus on European/Western luxury, Caucasian models are used to reinforce legitimacy.
Examples: Spur and Vogue Nippon


Read more about this specific topic here and also explore that website for more excellent readings on Japan's consumer and media trends.

1 comment:

matt williams said...

I love Japanesse fashion magazines. I read Mini and Vivi. I notice that most of the models used in Vivi looked mixed or Italien/Spanish or Portugeese. I am black but it still bothers me. Why can't we as people of color, love who we are. I have no problem with seeing a non Japanesse or half Japanesse model in a Japanesse magazine. It becomes a problem when they are featured more than 50% of time.