† LA CARMINA †
CLICK HERE to read a detailed biographical narrative of La Carmina.
My life revolves around wild Tokyo subcultures and style, especially the morbid-meets-adorable Gothic Lolita. I write kitschy-cute books, design neo-Rococo outerwear, and blog obsessively about my earless cat...
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) - Coming out in 2009: two books about kooky Japanese cuisine for Perigee/Penguin USA and Mark Batty Publisher.
† CUTE YUMMY TIME (Perigee/Penguin Group 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.
† CRAZY WACKY THEME RESTAURANTS: Tokyo (Mark Batty Publisher, July 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 started a Gothic Lolita/Japanese fashion blog in Sept 07 that has grown to 2 million hits per month. I do all the web design for my site, which has been featured in WWD, Time Out NY, LA Weekly, Vice, Vancouver Sun and other major publications (see Press section for more).
>> 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 - 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".)
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, 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 (yowww)!
