Fashion and ... Anime

Paradise Kiss (part3)

Characters :

Miwako Sakurada




She is a student at Yazagaku and works together with George and other 2 fashion students at their own brand, Paradise Kiss. She tends to act in a childish way , wearing her Lolita dress and using her unique vocabulary (she was the one that named Yukari, Caroline just because that name suited her) . However she is extremely cute and sweet .


Arashi Nagase


He is another fashion student that takes part in the Paradise Kiss project. He is unique in his taste of punk style, the many piercings he adorns his body with and his love for alternative music. He has been knowing Miwako since childhood and he has been her boyfriend since they started high school. Although he appears to be quite tough, cynical and sometimes with an abrasive personality, he deeply cares for those around him , being the voice of reason whenever the members of Paradise Kiss have a conflict to solve .



Daisuke "Isabella" Yamamoto

Issabella represents the mother figure to the members of Paradise Kiss. This tall Yazagaku student is a childhood friend of George and was even the first one to inspire George in creating his first dress. Since then, she usually wears every piece of clothing George finishes. She truly epitomizes class, beauty, glamour and high femininity with her special style. She often gives advice to Yukari when she has trouble in her relationship with George or about quitting school and starting a profession as a model. Anyway, this character hides under the glamourous dresses an impressive secret , she is actually a crossdresser , and she is deeply insulted when somebody calls her by her birth name, "Daisuke" .

Fashion and ... Anime

Paradise Kiss (part 2)

Characters :

Yukari "Caroline" Hayasaka

She appears as a school girl with a monotonous and boring life, forced to study for her exams all day long and always listen to her strict mother. However, after meeting the ParaKiss crew she changes completely and starts thinking what she really wants to do with her life by doing her first steps alone . She decides she wants to be a professional model once the students revealed her qualities as a model . But her relationship with George, quite uneasy at times , makes her reflect on her personality and it starts the complex process of her self-discovery. While he is pointing out all her flaws, she realises how miserable her life was until then and is keen on experimenting more.







George Koizum



George is an eccentric, handsome , and an extremely charismatic student who has extraordinary talent for fashion design , especially haute couture . He always has impressive yet extravagant ideas which unfortunately doesn't appeal to everybody , that`s why he is not meant to be a prêt-à-porter designer. Although he doesn't show it, he cares a lot for Yukari and wants her to become an independent woman, who takes responsibility for her own mistakes. He claims he is bisexual or "an equal opportunity lover" , and he is strikingly similar to Brian Slade from Velvet Goldmine. Moreover, George also comes as cold , distant and manipulative , "he is not the man to make a woman happy" . He has a top-notch lifestyle, living in a loft apartment and driving a vintage Jaguar .

Fashion and ... Anime

Paradise Kiss




Nobody ever thought that an anime about fashion would become so popular and appealing to a world wide public. Tagged at a first sight as a girl anime , Paradise Kiss is more than this, it is offering something different than all the violence stuffed anime that everybody was used to .


First of all, what deeply impressed me was the possible plot, the feeling that it could happen to me, to you, to your neighbour, your friend. It looks so real, it is not far-fetched, neither treacly ..it is just how things really happen in life. We all know that the path of succes, especially in the fashion domain, is not that easy. And that is what this series want to show, that high fashion is not a mass-production industry, instead it is art and above all a lifestyle. Once you enter into this world, you are captured and you will always be its prisoner no matter how much you try to escape. It becomes part of you .


Paradise Kiss is based on a 5 volume manga series by internationally acclaimed artist Ai Yazawa. It actually features some excellent fashion designs by 'A/T' (Atsuro Tayama). It's a rather interesting concept to have a real fashion designer creating for an anime.



The story starts how a group of four students from the Yazawa School of Design, who have their own company named Paradise Kiss, are looking for a model to wear their dress at a contest . Yukari seems to be the perfect one ,although at first she just looks as a simple school girl who doesn't expect important trepidations in her life . However their determination convinces her and they all start an adventure of love, passion, artistic challenges and characters` evolution .

And, in addition, a song from Franz Ferdinand features at the end of every one of its 12 episodes, which makes it even better .

Japanese Fashion

Anime Resurrected h. NAOTO S/S 2009

One surprising element of his creations is, in my opinion, that h. NAOTO is able to put together in one collection, the dark side of clothing with a rather creepy Gothic tendency and some extremely cute outfits, which reminds us of those cute little girls with multicolored hair and their lace dresses with a lot of flounces.



Using many traditional Japanese pieces, he combines different styles, creating a totally unique image, a real piece of art .
The presentation starts out with a mysterious atmosphere: long black dresses inspired by Gothic fashion, white dresses looking like a corpse bride`s outfit ready to attack but also some Victorian inspired outfits which brings back the elegance yet the coldness of a long gone trend. This part of his collection can be compared with a parade of fantastic witches resurrected to attend their final sabbath .
What comes next is even more surprising. Some cute girls jumping around and waving at everybody while holding tight their teddy bear enter the stage, bringing a smile on everybody`s scowl face after a rather horrifying spectacle.
How can these two styles be combined ? I don't know but I am sure that the result is amazing !

More Sketches

I just wanted to share some drawings I made. Some are inspired from different magazines and others are my personal designs. They are not perfect, I know, I just meant to work more on the body not on the actual design. I never really had fashion design classes but it was always a passion of mine so I need practice. By the way , any criticism is welcome !
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Back

I had some problems lately with my pc and I couldn't sign in , but I hope now everything is solved . So I bring you a sketch I made some time ago . I remember I inspired myself from a magazine article , and this picture attracted me especially because of its sophistication .
Enjoy !