† LA CARMINA †
Japan Goth fashion blogger. TV host. Author of 3 Jpop books. CNNGo writer.
“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 on Travel Channel)
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, Fox News.)
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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 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.
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...
I am a regular contributor to CNNGo, an Asia lifestyle/travel website launched by CNN. Read all my articles about Asia pop culture here. I also write a column for Lip Service Webzine, the popular Goth fashion label.
† BLOGGER - I do all the writing and web/graphic design for my popular Goth / Japanese fashion & pop culture blog, which has been featured in The New Yorker, Washington Post, WWD, Time Out NY, LA Times, Fox News, Village Voice and other major publications. (See Press section for more.)
† TV APPEARANCES -
† LA CARMINA † TV hosting reel
includes CNN, Bizarre Foods on Travel Channel, NHK, 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. It was a success -- the children loved it and ate vegetables that they'd never tried before!
† 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).
Featured as a guide to Harajuku fashion in CNNGo's Tokyo TV episode. La Carmina interviewed Goth designer Kenzo-A for a story that aired a dozen times on CNN International. More photos here; view clip below (begins about halfway).
† Co-host of Canal Plus France 90 minute documentary about Tokyo subcultures, with Antoine de Caunes of Eurotrash. (Airs in November).
>>
La Carmina has a very popular YouTube channel with thousands of subscribers. Videos include Tokyo adventures and a Goth cooking show!
>> Visit my blog...
DESIGNER - Upon graduation from Yale Law, I launched my fashion company, LA CARMINA. 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, graduated in 3 years)
+ 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, 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 the right column of my blog and view my clothing line.)
Art - Edward Gorey, Yoshitomo Nara, Sanrio
Food - Anything that's cute!
Hobbies - Bizarre travel in Asia, nightcrawling in blood-stained outfits, making goofy YouTube videos with my friends
Icons - Mana Sama, Yoko Ono, Ben Stein, Martha Stewart, Army of Lovers, the Queen Mother, my Scottish Fold baby Basil Farrow (visit his blog!)
