† LA CARMINA †
My work is united by my love of Tokyo subcultures and wild fashion, especially the morbid-meets-adorable style known as Gothic Lolita.
DESIGNER - Upon graduation from Yale Law, I launched my fashion company, LA CARMINA: seasonless outerwear for modern Marie Antoinettes. My designs are inspired by Tokyo Gothic Lolita, Tim Burton films, Victorian mourning, and Rococo/Versailles. Think asymmetrical collars, rows of silver buttons, corset lacing, tiered bell skirts, gathered shoulders.
>> View the collection....
AUTHOR (illustrator † photographer) - I’m currently working on two books about kooky Japanese cuisine for Perigee/Penguin USA and Mark Batty Publisher.
Cooking Cute (Perigee/Penguin Group USA, release date TBA) 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.
Tokyo Theme Restaurants (Mark Batty Publisher, Mar 09) is an eye-popping visual tour of Tokyo and Taipei's kitschiest theme restaurants. This hardcover will be packed with my color photography.
My first book, The Cosmos in a Carrot (Parallax Press, Nov 06), takes a Zen Buddhist approach to eating well. 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 run a popular Gothic Lolita/Japanese fashion blog with over a million hits per month. My site has garnered mentions in Vice and Conde Nast Traveller, and I appeared on the cover of Morbid Outlook magazine.
>> Visit my blog...
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 - Visual Kei: Malice Mizer, Kokusyoku Sumire, Aural Vampire, The Candy Spooky Theater
Films - The Ten Commandments, Lone Wolf and Cub, Ichi the Killer, Oldboy, Kamikaze Girls, Tim Burton films
Books - Revolution in Fashion:1715-1815, De Sade's 120 Days, Sperm Wars
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, Goth/kawaii Japanese characters
Food - Wild salmon sashimi, BBQ hamachi gama, wakame, yerba mate
Hobbies - nightcrawling in blood-stained outfits, seduction by vampires, sleeping 14 hours
Icons - Mana Sama, Yoko Ono, Ben Stein, Martha Stewart, Army of Lovers, the Queen Mother, my Scottish Fold baby Basil Farrow (yowww)!
