† LA CARMINA †
Japan Goth fashion & culture blogger. Travel TV host & arranger. Coolhunter. Author of 3 Jpop books. CNN, AOL, Huffington Post journalist.
“Adorable, in a somewhat bizarre way.” - The New Yorker
(La Carmina has) “beauty, grace, intelligence and can speak with authority on many subjects.”
“If you don’t subscribe to this woman’s Facebook, blog, and Twitter feeds you are really missing out, kids.”
- Andrew Zimmern (TV host, Bizarre Foods)
Watch her TV HOSTING REEL: Travel Channel, National Geographic, Food Network, Discovery, CNN, NHK and more.
Press coverage includes The New Yorker, Washington Post, Cosmopolitan, WWD, Vogue, LA Times, various magazine covers (see below).
Sponsored travel & press trips include Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Maldives, Maui, Macau, Miami, Mexico, Montreal, Japan, Hong Kong, Prague, Germany.
Speeches and appearances include: Hong Kong Social Media Week, New York fashion week (front row), Independent Fashion Bloggers Conference, Luisaviaroma Firenze4Ever (for top style bloggers), Mediabistro Social Curation Summit, PRSA Travel & Tourism Conference, Guest of Honor at anime conventions (Las Vegas Animegacon, California Ani-Jam, etc).
Travel & press trip sponsors include: Dubai Tourism, Miami Tourism, Maui Tourism, Phoenix Tourism, Mazatlan Tourism, Go With Oh, AirBNB, Roomorama, Westin hotels, Kimpton hotels, Orlando Hotel, Yotel NYC, Brooklyn NU hotel, Fairmont, Wimdu and more.
Contact La Carmina for TV / personal appearance inquiries, sponsorships, advertising and other collaborations.
La Carmina is a prominent Japan & alternative fashion/art/travel/cultures blogger, international TV host, author of 3 books (Penguin USA and Random House), coolhunter, and journalist for AOL Travel / Huffington Post.
TV HOST: La Carmina has appeared on NBC "The Today Show" and CBS "The Doctors", and co-hosted the Japan episode of Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern for Travel Channel, which airs in 75 countries. NHK Japan filmed 2 documentaries about her work, including "Kawaii TV." Recent presenting and arranging credits include Food Network "World's Weirdest Restaurants", Discovery Channel "Oddities," Fuel TV, National Geographic "Taboo", Pro Sieben Germany, Dutch Pepsi, Sony Australia, Pro Sieben Germany, Canal Plus France, Norway TV, CNN, Mexico Tourism Board and more. (View her presenting reels below and here.)
TRAVEL SHOW: She hosts, writes, arranges and field produces a "Coolhunting America" travel TV show for Huffington Post / AOL. La Carmina travels and scouts out underground attractions and bizarre subcultures, starting with Wisconsin. Watch the first episode. In her new Travel SOS video series, she answers questions with celebrity co-stars. La Carmina and her film crew travel internationally, shooting episodes for her ongling series.
COOLHUNTER & PRODUCTION ARRANGER: She runs a trend consulting / TV hosting and arranging company: La Carmina & The Pirates. The crew specializes in Cool Japan, cosplay, Goth, fashion, music, art and youth subcultures. (See television resume and hire the Pirates.)
BLOGGER & JOURNALIST: Her popular blog has been featured in major publications (The New Yorker, Washington Post, WWD, Cosmopolitan, Vogue, LA Times). She is a travel and pop culture journalist for CNN, Huffington Post & AOL Travel. La Carmina
has a large, passionate online following, and was twice invited to Luisaviaroma's Italy event for the world's top fashion bloggers. She was a guest at NY Fashion Week 2012, where she sat front row. Speeches include IFB conference, Hong Kong Social Media Week, Mediabistro social curation summit, PRSA Travel and Tourism Conference.
AUTHOR & EDUCATION: Her 3 books include Cute Yummy Time (about decorating food to look adorable - Penguin USA) and Crazy, Wacky Theme Restaurants: Tokyo (maid cafes, cat cafes, vampire and ninja restaurants - Random House). Born and raised in Vancouver, Canada, La Carmina is a summa cum laude graduate of Columbia University and Yale Law School.
FASHION DESIGNER: La Carmina models and designs clothing with various fashion brands. She is active in charity work, working with the NOH8 campaign, and raising money for relief efforts in Japan. She recently released the HOPE t-shirt collection and Soho Hearts Panda necklace, with funds going to the earthquake and tsunami victims.
† AUTHOR (illustrator & photographer) - I wrote three books about Japanese pop culture and food, for major publishers. These include:
CUTE YUMMY TIME (Perigee/Penguin USA, Oct 09) is a “kawaii” (think Hello Kitty) cookbook that brings the recent trend of personified bento boxes to an American palate. It features four-color photos and my adorable anime drawings. Major US cities book tour; appeared on The Today Show.
CRAZY WACKY THEME RESTAURANTS: Tokyo (Mark Batty/Random House, Sept 09) is an eye-popping visual tour of Tokyo's kitschiest theme restaurants. This hardcover is packed with my color photography.
I'm represented by NYC literary agency Levine Greenberg, home to Chuck Klosterman and The Onion.
>> More about my books...
†JOURNALIST
- I'm a featured writer for AOL (America Online) and Huffington Post (Travel, Arts, Weird News). My work is posted and promoted on the front pages, and social networks.
- I am a main contributor for CNN Travel / CNNGo, an Asia lifestyle/travel website launched by CNN. Read all my articles about Asia pop culture here.
- As a travel blogger, host and journalist, I'm flown worldwide for international press trips and shoots. View my travel guides and resume.
I host, write, field produce and arrange a "Coolhunting America" travel TV show for Huffington Post / AOL. Watch the first episode.
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My "Weird Wisconsin" travel show was featured on the front page of America Online (AOL).
In my Huff Post "Travel SOS" series, I answer questions with the help of celebrity co-stars, such as the Amazing Race Goth team.
† BLOGGER
I do all the writing and web/graphic design for my high-traffic Alternative / Japanese fashion, travel & pop culture blog, which has been featured in The New Yorker, Washington Post, Cosmopolitan, WWD, Vogue, LA Times and other major publications. (See Press section for more.) I was one of the world's top fashion bloggers to be flown to LuisaViaRoma's event in Italy, in 2011 and 2012. Worldwide press trips have included Macau, NY Fashion Week, Europe, Florida, Hawaii and Mexico.
† COOLHUNTER & TV/FILM FIXER (PRODUCTION COORDINATOR)
I run
a Japanese alt / trend consulting business: La Carmina & The Pirates. Services include translating, connecting, coolhunting, production arranging & hosting for TV crews.
Details and how to hire us: http://www.lacarmina.com/pirates
† TV HOST / PRESENTER
† LA CARMINA † TV hosting reel
includes CNN, Bizarre Foods on Travel Channel, NHK, NRK Norway, Dutch Pepsi, NBC Today Show.
La Carmina appears as an expert guide to bizarre cafes and Japanese culture on Food Network TV show "World's Weirdest Restaurants." She and Naomi Rubin were the Tokyo fixers (translators, location scouts, local production coordinators) for all 14 Japan episodes.
See the Food Network video clips below and here. More photos from the shoot here.
La Carmina was a guest on The Doctors! The hit CBS daytime TV show, which tackles medical and health topics, has 14 million viewers per week and airs in USA, Canada, Mexico, Australia, Ireland, Sweden and Finland.
She discusses bagel heads (Japan saline forehead inflation) with all four doctors and Roseanne Barr, presidential candidate and comedian. Watch the clip below and see more photos on her blog.
Her company arranged 4 TV shows about the Japan bagel-head or donut-head body modification, including National Geographic Taboo. Click for more on bagelheads & to work with us.
Her friend John, featured in National Geographic's Taboo episode (which the Pirates arranged) calls in as well. The Drs bagelhead episode is called "Health Dilemmas Caught on Tape" and aired Wednesday, October 24.
† Guest on The Today Show to promote new book Cute Yummy Time.
† Co-hosted the Tokyo episode of Andrew Zimmern's Bizarre World, which airs on Travel Channel and in 75 countries (details here.) She and her Goth friends drink red slush out of a mannequin’s head and eat “Russian Roulette” takoyaki behind the bars a jail cell. See CNN coverage and blog posts about La Carmina's TV gig.
Video clip of La Carmina's segment on Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern (Travel Channel).
† La Carmina was featured in a promo spot for Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations 100th episode. It aired for a week on Travel Channel (Sept 2010). View it here.
† Appeared on Strangers in Danger, a travel show airing on Fuel TV, Discovery and National Geographic. Her company fixed (location-scouted and arranged) the Japan episode, and she's on-screen as the subculture guide, next to BMX stars Rooftop and Catfish.
La Carmina was the subject of a 30-minute episode of NHK Kawaii TV. The popular program, airing on Japan’s national broadcaster, covers cute Japanese fashion, trends and people. (See photos from the TV shoot. Watch the video here.)
† La Carmina was the guide to Harajuku fashion in CNNGo's Tokyo TV episode. She interviewed designer Kenzo-A for a story that aired a dozen times on CNN International.
More photos here; view clip below and here.
† La Carmina was the fixer (local production coordinator) and subject of several web episodes for a Dutch Pepsi campaign (shot in Tokyo, August 2010).
The first video is here and below.
† Co-host of Canal Plus France 90 minute documentary about Tokyo subcultures, with Antoine de Caunes of Eurotrash. (Aired November 2010; clips below and here).
† Tokyo host of NRK Norway TV show, Ari og Per (clips below and here). It won the Gullruten, the Norwegian Grammy award!
† She was the on-camera guide to Tokyo pop culture and made arrangements for National Geographic / Sony Australia travel TV show, "Roam," hosted by the Two Tims.
† La Carmina starred in a music video filmed in Rome: "Rock Princess" by Visual rock band DNR. See the trailer above and here, and the full music video.
† Subject of NHK Japan 20-minute documentary "New York Wave" (for Japanese national TV station). La Carmina taught Harlem students how to make healthy, cute bentos.
UPCOMING TV CLIPS
La Carmina hosted/produced travel videos for Arizona and Florida Tourism. She appeared as a guest on Discovery TV's hit show, "Oddities" in NYC.
† La Carmina has a very popular YouTube Partner channel with thousands of subscribers. Videos include Tokyo adventures, concert reports and a Goth cooking show.
>> Visit my blog...
DESIGNER - La Carmina collaborates with major brands on fashion collecions. All proceeds from her HOPE charity t-shirts went to benefit Japan after the earthquake.
JEWELRY COLLECTION - She and Sebastiano Serafini released a panda bear necklace with Soho Hearts, with proceeds to directly help Japan.
View La Carmina's current and previous clothing lines.
EDUCATION
+ Columbia University, BA (summa cum laude/Phi Beta Kappa/Global Scholar, graduated in 3 years)
+ Yale Law School, JD
>> Photos of La Carmina...
† FAVORITES †
Music - Italo Disco, 80s Goth, darkwave (Sopor Aeternus), Visual Kei (Japanese glam/hard rock).
Films - Japanese & Korean horror, Tim Burton films, The Pirates: Band of Misfits.
Fashion - Goth, Art Nouveau, Victorian, Rococo, Japanese Gothic Lolita (h. NAOTO, Black Peace Now, Algonquins). (See more favorite brands on my blog and view my clothing line.)
Art- Alphonse Mucha (Art Nouveau Absinthe)
Food - Anything that's cute! Read more about my book "Cute Yummy Time"
Hobbies - Coolhunting, underground youth travel (especially in Asia), nightcrawling at Goth/fetish parties, making YouTube videos with my spooky friends
Inspiration - My Scottish Fold baby Basil Farrow (visit his blog!) and add us on Google Plus.
Contact La Carmina for press and appearance inquiries, sponsored posts, advertising and other collaborations.
