† 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, Discovery, CNN, NHK and more.
Press coverage (The New Yorker, Washington Post, Cosmopolitan, WWD, Vogue, LA Times, Fox News.)
Contact La Carmina for TV / personal appearance inquiries, sponsorships, advertising and other collaborations.
La Carmina is a professional Japan & alternative fashion/beauty/youth cultures blogger, travel TV host, author of 3 books (Penguin USA and Random House), designer and journalist for AOL Travel / Huffington Post.
TV HOST: La Carmina has appeared on The Today Show and co-hosted an episode of Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern for Travel Channel, which airs in 75 countries. NHK Japan filmed a documentary about her work; recent TV hosting and arranging credits include Food Network, Discovery Channel / National Geographic / Fuel, Dutch Pepsi, Sony Australia, Canal Plus France, Belgium TV, Norway TV, CNN, Mexico Tourism Board. (View her 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.
COOLHUNTER: She runs a trend consulting / TV hosting and arranging company: La Carmina & The Pirates. The crew specializes in Cool Japan, cosplay, Goth, burlesque, LGBT, Jpop fashion, music, art and youth subcultures. (Click here to learn more and hire the Pirates.)
BLOGGER & JOURNALIST: Her popular blog has been featured in major publications (The New Yorker, Washington Post, WWD, Village Voice, Cosmopolitan, Vogue, Time Out New York, LA Times). She's flown worldwide for events (Macau, Mexico), and was one of the world's top style bloggers honored at LuisaViaRoma's Firenze4Ever, in 2011 and 2012. She is a travel and pop culture journalist for CNN, Huffington Post, AOL and Lip Service.
AUTHOR: 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). La Carmina is a graduate of Columbia University and Yale Law School.
FASHION DESIGNER: La Carmina 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.
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 am a main contributor for CNNGo, an Asia lifestyle/travel website launched by CNN. Read all my articles about Asia pop culture here.
- I'm a featured writer for AOL (America Online) and Huffington Post Travel (meaning my work is posted and promoted on the front pages).
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I write a Global Gothic column about dark subcultures/fashion around the world for Lip Service Webzine.
I host, write, field produce and arrange a "Coolhunting America" travel TV show for Huffington Post / AOL. Watch the first episode.
My "Weird Wisconsin" travel show appeared on the front page of America Online (AOL).
† BLOGGER
I do all the writing and web/graphic design for my high-traffic Goth / Japanese fashion & 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'm flown worldwide for appearances and press trips, and one of the world's top fashion bloggers to be flown to LuisaViaRoma's event in Italy, in 2011 and 2012. Press trips have included Macau 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, arranging & hosting for TV crews.
Details and how to hire us: http://www.lacarmina.com/pirates
† TV HOST
† LA CARMINA † TV hosting reel
includes CNN, Bizarre Foods on Travel Channel, NHK, NRK Norway, Dutch Pepsi, NBC Today Show.
† Guest on The Today Show to promote new book Cute Yummy Time.
† Subject of NHK Japan 20-minute documentary (for Japanese national TV station). La Carmina taught Harlem students how to make healthy, cute bentos.
† 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 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.
UPCOMING TV CLIPS
La Carmina hosted/fixed Tokyo episodes for Food Network: World's Weirdest Restaurants. She was the subject of a 30 minute episode for NHK Kawaii TV, and hosted/produced videos about Day of the Dead and spooky culture for Mexico Tourism Board.
† 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 collections. Her HOPE charity t-shirts to benefit Japan are available for sale.
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 - 80s Goth, darkwave (SOPOR AETERNUS), Italo Disco, minimal electronik, Visual Kei (Japanese glam/hard rock): Malice Mizer, Versailles, GPKISM, 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, 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 my blog and view my clothing line.)
Art - Edward Gorey, Yoshitomo Nara, Sanrio
Food - Anything that's cute!
Hobbies - Bizarre travel in Asia, nightcrawling at Goth/fetish parties, making YouTube videos with my spooky friends
Inspiration - My Scottish Fold baby Basil Farrow (visit his blog!)
Contact La Carmina for press and appearance inquiries, sponsored posts, advertising and other collaborations.
