† LA CARMINA †
Click here to read a detailed biographical narrative of La Carmina.
Come here for recent press coverage. (The New Yorker, Washington Post, WWD, Time Out NY, LA Times, Village Voice..)
“Adorable, in a somewhat bizarre way.” - The New Yorker
My life revolves around wild Tokyo subcultures and style, especially the morbid-meets-adorable Gothic Lolita. I write kitschy-cute books, design undead-Rococo clothes, and blog obsessively about my earless cat...
† AUTHOR (illustrator & photographer) - I am the author of three books about Japanese pop culture and food.
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 contribute articles on pop culture to CNNGo, an Asia lifestyle/travel website launched by CNN. Read all my articles here.
My first book, The Cosmos in a Carrot (Parallax Press, Nov 06), is a Zen reflection on food. The promo tour included TV and radio appearances, readings/signings at major bookstores, and speeches to hundred-plus audiences in a dozen cities. Foreign rights were sold to Korea.
I'm represented by NYC literary agency Levine Greenberg, home to Chuck Klosterman and The Onion.
>> More about my books...
† BLOGGER - I do all the writing and web/graphic design for my popular Gothic Lolita/Japanese fashion & pop culture blog, which has been featured in The New Yorker, Washington Post, WWD, Time Out NY, LA Times, Village Voice and other major publications. (See Press section for more.)
† TV APPEARANCES - Guest on The Today Show † Co-hosted the Tokyo episode of Andrew Zimmern's Bizarre World, which airs on Travel Channel and in 75 countries (details here.) † Subject of NHK Japan 20-minute documentary about my work in cute cooking † Co-host of Canal France 90 minute documentary about Tokyo subcultures.
>> Visit my blog...
DESIGNER - Upon graduation from Yale Law, I launched my fashion company, LA CARMINA. I teamed up with Montreal-based clothing company Akumu Ink to release a series of t-shirts and hoodies. The designs are “inspired by everything coming out of Japan from its cute pop icons to its terrifying horror movies.”
>> View the collection....
EDUCATION -
+ Columbia University, BA (summa cum laude/Phi Beta Kappa/Global Scholar)
+ Yale Law School, JD (Grammy ELI Award)
>> Photos of La Carmina...
† FAVORITES †
Music - EBM, 80s Goth, darkwave (SOPOR AETERNUS), Italo Disco, minimal electronik, Visual Kei (Japanese glam/hard rock): Malice Mizer, Versailles, Kokusyoku Sumire, Aural Vampire, The Candy Spooky Theater. (See my blog for more favorites, under "Song of the Day".)
Films - The Ten Commandments, Lone Wolf and Cub, Ichi the Killer, Oldboy, Kamikaze Girls, Tim Burton films. (See my blog for more favorites, under "Film of the Week".)
Fashion - Goth, Victorian, Rococo, Japanese Gothic Lolita (h. NAOTO, Black Peace Now, Algonquins). (See more favorite brands on the right column of my blog and view my clothing line.)
Art - Edward Gorey, Yoshitomo Nara, Sanrio
Food - Anything that's cute!
Hobbies - nightcrawling in blood-stained outfits, sleeping 14 hours, making my cat famous on the Internet
Icons - Mana Sama, Yoko Ono, Ben Stein, Martha Stewart, Army of Lovers, the Queen Mother, my Scottish Fold baby Basil Farrow (visit his blog!)
