Japanese pop culture author and designer La Carmina Gothic Lolita

† LA CARMINA †

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..)

“Adorable, in a somewhat bizarre way.” - The New Yorker

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 am the author of 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 contribute articles on pop culture to CNNGo, an Asia lifestyle/travel website launched by CNN. Read all my articles here.

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...

† BLOGGER - I do all the writing and web/graphic design for my popular Gothic Lolita/Japanese fashion & pop culture blog, which has been featured in The New Yorker, Washington Post, WWD, Time Out NY, LA Times, Village Voice and other major publications. (See Press section for more.)

† TV APPEARANCES
- Guest on The Today Show Co-hosted the Tokyo episode of Andrew Zimmern's Bizarre World, which airs on Travel Channel and in 75 countries (details here.) Subject of NHK Japan 20-minute documentary about my work in cute cooking Co-host of Canal France 90 minute documentary about Tokyo subcultures.

>> Visit my blog...

DESIGNER - Upon graduation from Yale Law, I launched my fashion company, LA CARMINA. I teamed up with Montreal-based clothing company Akumu Ink to release a series of t-shirts and hoodies. The designs are “inspired by everything coming out of Japan from its cute pop icons to its terrifying horror movies.”

>> View the collection....

onigiri hat, phoenix wright cosplay, best cosplay outfits, harlem schoolchildren, kids in underprivileged school, cooking lessons, black skull scarf, silk black goth prom dress, TEACHING CHILDREN HEALTHY EATING HABITS, CUTE CHARACTER BENTO-MAKING AT HARLEM ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. pretty Asian model, Chinese idol girl, NHK TV, KAWAII BENTOS TV SHOW: LA CARMINA, BLOGGER & CUTE YUMMY TIME AUTHOR. filming japanese game show, charaben, CUTE CHARACTER BENTO, crazy FOOD COOKING SHOW, NHK JAPAN TV DOCUMENTARY SHOOT, NEW YORK WAVE

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".)

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 (visit his blog!)

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