Japanese pop culture author and designer La Carmina Gothic Lolita

† 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)!

Scottish Fold cat, cute kitten with fold ears, tan brown fur
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