AFTER THE END OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR, JAPAN WAS UNDER AMERICAN OCCUPATION, SO IT WAS NO COINCIDENCE WHEN THE JAPANESE BEGAN TO TAKE STYLE INSPIRATION FROM AMERICAN STYLING. WHILE ELDER GENERATIONS, UNDERSTANDABLY, HELD ANYTHING AMERICAN WITH SOME DISDAIN, THE YOUTH BECAME OBSESSED WITH AMERICAN FILM STARS, THEIR ROCK ’N’ ROLL HEROES AND THE FREE SPIRITED “AMERICAN DREAM.”
THEIR STYLING CHOICES REFLECTED THIS, WITH THE IVY LEAGUE STYLE BECOMING ONE OF THE BIGGEST POST-WAR TRENDS. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE STYLE REACHED NEW HEIGHTS IN 1964 WITH THE LAUNCH OF WEEKLY MAGAZINE HEIBON PUNCH. AIMED SPECIFICALLY AT JAPANESE MEN BETWEEN 15-30 YEARS OLD, THE MAGAZINE WAS AN OVERNIGHT HIT DUE TO IT’S FASHION-LED CONTENT, ENCOURAGING READERS TO DITCH THE TRADITIONAL UNIFORMS THEY HAD KNOWN ALL THEIR LIVES.
FOR THE FIRST TIME, JAPANESE MEN BEGAN TO REALLY DRESS UP— AND THE IVY STYLE WAS THEIR CHOICE.SOON THE STREETS OF GINZA (THE MAIN SHOPPING DISTRICT OF TOKYO) WERE FLOODED WITH YOUNG MEN, AND WOMEN DRESSED HEAD-TO-TOE IN THE IVY STYLE: WHITE BUTTON-DOWN SHIRTS, BLAZERS, COTTON CHINOS AND PENNY LOAFERS, WITH PLAID SKIRTS AND KNEE-HIGH SOCKS FOR WOMEN. THEY WOULD MAKE WALLETS FROM THE COVERS OF ISSUES OF HEIBON PUNCH, AND OTHER MAGAZINES.
ONCE THEY FINISHED SCHOOL, OR WORK, THEY WOULD USE BATHROOMS TO CHANGE INTO THEIR NEW STYLE, STUFFING THEIR LESS DESIRABLE UNIFORMS INTO THE BROWN PAPER BAGS FROM THE NEW STORES THEY HAD BEEN SHOPPING IN.OVER THE SUMMER OF 1964, GROUPS WOULD LOITER OUTSIDE THEIR FAVOURITE STORES, CAFÉS AND RESTAURANTS ON MIYUKI DORI (OR MIYUKI STREET) WHERE THEY WERE GIVEN THE MONIKER OF THE MIYUKI ZOKU (MIYUKI TRIBE). THE MIYUKI ZOKU IN PARTICULAR PUSHED THE IVY STYLE FURTHER BY RAISING THE HEM OF THEIR TROUSERS BY 10-15CM, IN DIRECT CONTRADICTION TO THE STIFF, TRADITIONAL FIT OF THE SUITS AND UNIFORMS THEIR PARENTS WOULD WEAR.
THEY ALSO OPTED FOR A VERY SPECIFIC HAIRCUT COMPARED TO THE OTHER TRIBES, STYLING THEIR HAIR WITH A SEVEN-THREE PART.WHILE THE YOUTH LAPPED UP THEIR NEWFOUND STYLING FREEDOM, THE OLDER GENERATION SAW IT SIMPLY AS A BLATANT DISPLAY OF DELINQUENCY IN THE FACE OF THE ESTABLISHMENT— THE LAST THING THE COUNTRY NEEDED IN THE LEAD UP TO THE 1964 OLYMPICS.
PREPARATIONS FOR THE EVENT KICKSTARTED THE BEGINNING OF THE END FOR TRIBES LIKE THE MIYUKI ZOKU, WITH POLICE FORCES WORKING WITH THE VERY FOUNDERS OF THE IVY STYLE TO ENTICE THE YOUTH TO ATTEND A “BIG IVY STYLE MEET-UP,” ONLY FOR THE POLICE TO STRUGGLE TO CONTAIN ALMOST 2000 TRIBE MEMBERS.
A MORE ORGANISED STORM OF GINZA LATER IN SEPTEMBER SENT A CLEAR MESSAGE TO THE TRIBES AT THE TIME, BUT THE IVY STYLE LIVES ON WITHIN JAPANESE STYLING, AND OF COURSE, MKI MIYUKI ZOKU. ORIGINAL IMAGES OF THE MIYUKI ZOKU FEATURE ON OUR MKI ARTICLE COLLECTION.
SHOP MKI ARTICLE COLLECTION BELOW.
