Ayu and her influence on her peak
 

So, I was wondering. Watching Kana Nishino and her amazing fashion influence among japanese girls, I was wondering how Ayu influenced the japanese people back in the day (2000-2003) . If you guys were around on those times, how would you say she influenced japanese society??

Well, the sole existance of Kana Nishino is somewhat a reflex of Ayu impact at that time xD

Um...they're 2 different artists
please, NO comparison!

lol you can compare here.

Kana is huge on the fashion scene, just like Ayu was then...

but idk. Since I started following the magazines more...I see the trends coming more from the designers now, and the stars following them and just being trendy.

But I wasnt around in the fashion scene back in the day, so idk about Ayu so much. I remember reading about magazines paying money to know what Ayu was going to be wearing next...might still be the same with people like Kana now.

I dont know how I feel about that...
watching her concerts and interviews and lives and everything,. I would say ayumi was heavily influenced by American artists... but thats just my opinion.

During I am... she was a j-version of Madonna Music era...

I wonder if age has something to do with it, too? I mean, I'm not inspired by Ayu or Kuu's fashions, and they are both much older than I am. I do follow Kana's fashions, however, and she is only one year older than I am. I followed Miliyah too, but girl done lost her mind when it comes to fashion recently. She wears stuff that is... not my personal style. But, I'm still interested in seeing what she's wearing. I dunno, I just can't see a 16 year old girl using Ayu as her fashion icon, over someone like Kana.

Well... age plays a huge part on everything about pop culture, even fashion influence... On the same way, it would be bizarre for ayu to dress like a 16 years old right now...

I agree with this.

But I also feel like Miliyah is a lot more experimental and edgier than people like Kana, who to me, seem really safe and just generally stylish and trendy, rather than being truly fashionable...

but that is a long ass discussion in itself lol

But here, yeah I think Kana is a lot easier to follow for young girls rather than say people like Miliyah and Ayu. And it was probably the same with Ayu with young girls back then...

Today, Ayu still seems to be following trends to me...but I'm not so sure as to why anymore...I guess she just likes it. I can't really see young girls following her either.


and early 2000s fashion...I think Ayu might have had something to do with the certain influx of western urban designs...like, everything MTRLG ever put out lol But that has since faded. Sometimes I feel like she was just in the right place at the right time...like hikki bringing in R&B music.


ohhh and what about the gyaru scene? idk anything about that.

I would say every Asian pop star is heavily influenced by American and British singers. Anyway, you missed the OP's question.

edit: You may have been responding to someone else. I'm sorry if I misunderstood.

i always thought that kana is the next ayumi hamasaki
many people in my country think that kana is following ayu style....

Well back then I don't think Ayu was so "glamorous" as she is now. Her style was much more "casual-trendy" and heavily driven by accessories as well, no?

I can recall that fake fox-tail thing on Ayu's hip being a famous part of "her" fashion during this time.

^ Don't forget the sunglasses she wore back then, too! But now that I think about it, I actually recall those being big in the US as well back in the early 2000s. That was long before I'd ever heard of Ayumi Hamasaki, though, so I know next to nothing about the correlation and can only speculate there.

This past year, the fox tail came surging back in Japan, actually, though it appears to have had nothing to do with Ayu, the fact that she hasn't been wearing them for many years only one of several factors one could point out.

I think ayu in the past has huge influence on the japanese girls.
I remember the sunglasses, leopard print, war print, the fox tail and a lot of over things.
In an article if i'm remember well, they said that the day or she has began a contract with Kosé in two days the sales of the products that ayumi used in the TV commercial have increase a lot 500 000 lipstick and this product who was number 3 or 4 in sale is become 1st thanks to ayu.
I will try to find this article. On her peak she has huge influence on the teenager more than Kana for sure.

edit:

TIME
"Unsurprisingly, Hamasaki's sway over pop culture attracts marketers who are keen to borrow her magic; and she's happy to share. All but two of her singles to date have been tied in with either a commercial or a TV program. She currently endorses the products of six companies, from Panasonic digital cameras to Kirin sports drinks. When she began appearing in ads for cosmetics maker Kose, its mascara went from No. 4 to No. 1 within two months and a new lip gloss sold 500,000 units in its first two days on the shelves.
But it takes more than fashion sense to propel a pop star to stardom of this scale. Hamasaki's own fans can't quite explain what it is about her that incites such frenzied devotion. "How can I put it?" muses Chika Tamura, 16, gazing at a poster of her idol in a crowded HMV shop in Tokyo's Shibuya district. "Ayu is the me I wish I was. She just ... gets it." As a singer, her very imperfections endear her to her legions of fans, who range well beyond teenage schoolgirls. "Her voice is screechy, even irritating sometimes," says Arisa Kaneko, a 28-year-old TV writer. "But that just makes her more human. You know she's singing her heart out." For Ken Yoshida, 27, of Ise City in Mie prefecture, the Hamasaki-devoted site he maintains on the Web "makes my life worth living."


Read more: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/ar...#ixzz1sTTUcZAI

Edit (2) Another article:

"Hime-kei appears to have been inspired by American filmmaker Sofia Coppola's movie Marie Antoinette, with its lush rendering of the decadence of the court of Louis XVI. The rush of young Japanese women to emulate the look of 18th-century French aristocrats has grown from a fad into something of a movement, whose leader is the popular singer Ayumi Hamasaki. It even has its own magazine, Koakuma Ageha, with a circulation of 350,000. If Coppola's movie created the wave, Osaka-based Jesus Diamante was ready to ride it. Established in 2001, the label had offered luxurious clothing styled for a hypothetical heiress with a likeness to French actress Brigitte Bardot. But the impact of Marie Antoinette prompted it to introduce such lines as Marie Wanpi, with a ball gown sporting a large ribbon on the chest and a Cinderella coat with a fur collar and sleeve edges. "

the whole gyaru subculture which still exists carried a lot of Ayu influence back in the day, and still does. Ayu is the role model in the hearts or many gyaru models. Tsubasa Masuwaka (Umeda) anyone? the face of Popteen and best Popteen model up-to-date, even though she graduated long time ago.

plus ageha fashions and make-up are hugely Ayu influenced


the blond hair trend supposedly did grew bigger among Japanese women at the time, but idk.

in 2000 she also trigerred the nail trend which is still super strong, do remember.

in 2000 - leopard, big puffy hime hair with big rose at the side (during SEASONS era), in 2001 the foxtail & war print. the glasses too.
in 2001-2002 the sports casual style and also jeans Ayu wore were much paid attention to. also, her tan and hair change during 2002 (rapid). I guess the accessories too, were a great part of her image.

gotta add that despite everything and how much time has passed, hamasaki ayumi in the eyes or Japanese is 2001 A BEST Ayu, that's the first image that comes to them
that what means propoganda, LOL, & 40+ magazine covers at a time

here's a couple of images of Ayu's influential looks, don't forget MTЯLG, was popular till 2005 :)

Big eyes, blonde hair, and casual chic (jeans, middrift, etc.) But don't forget cowboy hats!

Kana Nishino always struck me as a rewrite of Ayumi's peak with a lighter image. (No, I am NOT saying Kana is copying Ayumi) Just like Ayumi used to be a lot like darker late 90s/early 00s Madonna during I Am...

I do think Kana's following Ayu's path. although Kana's image is too pink/girlish/vanilla, and Ayu started with absolutely realistic lyrics, during 2000 Ayu's fashion image & just image was actually oriented towards 'cuteness'

On the actual topic...I once read that after Ayumi died her hair dark in 2005, there suddenly were abour 30% less blondes in Japan within weeks, does anyone know more about that or is it just a rumour?