Faith clothing store (@faithtokyo / @faithvintage_online) was born to offer a more insolent face of Harajuku. Founded in 2015, at a time of ultra-feminine and normcore trends, Faith became the place to go for those who wanted to express through their style a tougher and more subversive attitude.
Faith has created the event ‘Enigma,’ a party with a second-hand market to channel this outlook through music. Seeing the flyer for the first edition immediately led me to do this interview.
In today’s Japanese scene, incomprehensibly many events still offer lineups that are not at all diverse, consisting mostly or even exclusively of male artists. However, in the first edition of Enigma, the music will be provided exclusively by some of the emerging female DJs who represent several of the different underground trends in Japan.
I spoke about all this with Moe aka MoEPiKA (@moe____pika) and Terry (@terrythefaith), founders of Faith.
Chorareii: Your bio says Faith offers ‘vintage and bad clothing.’ Why ‘bad clothing’? What is the fashion attitude that your clothes convey?
Terry from Faith: When Faith opened in 2015, Harajuku was still in the midst of the normcore boom and the idol boom was also taking place. Harajuku was overflowing with girly clothes. While feeling a sense of crisis, we wanted to propose a style that focused on ‘bad clothing,’ which is the origin of our own style, with a somewhat delinquent feel and a subcultural atmosphere.
I want to know more about the history of Faith.
Terry: We opened our first store in Harajuku on November 14, 2015. Until the third year, we had a lot of original products, but now we mainly focus on vintage items to bring you our favorite worldview.
Your name is ‘Faith’, your logo is a Sacred Heart, and you use the gothic font. Why did you choose such a Christian concept?
Terry: We created it with a strong religious concept in mind, inspired by the imaginary room of the original director.
Who is behind Faith? Tell me about the team!
Terry: Faith was founded by Manami, Moe, and me, Terry. We were originally members of BUBBLES. After Manami left the group, Moe and I have been creating a style that mixes subculture and modern underground culture.
About me, I’m the father of a 3-year-old boy. Recently, I have been styling p.v. costumes for artists like Tohji or Katy, the leader of the idol group HAZE.
Moe: This is the first place I have worked so I will always love it.
There is another girl with us named Mayu. She loves the 80s and 90s bands, and she always has a sense of peace by incorporating their culture into her clothes.
Mayu had been a customer of Faith since it first opened, and I feel that she has maintained the unshakeable axis of the early days of Faith, which is really good.
You have a great selection of Y2K clothes. What do you think makes clothes from this era special? For example, what was unique about this aesthetic, how do people feel when they wear them…
Terry: From a buyer’s point of view, clothes from those days have a sense of luxury that today’s ready-to-wear items do not have, because of the many processes involved in making even casual items.
Incidentally, at Faith, we offer updated styles with a modern version of Y2K items with a grunge feel.
Do you think new generations that are wearing Y2K clothes now, in 2022, have things in common with the youth from the 2000s?
Terry: I feel that in today’s diversified world, there is a trend toward freedom and self-assertion like there was in the 2000s.
Faith is organizing an event called ‘Enigma.’ Tell me about it!
Moe: The theme of this project is a 90s rave revival. Since I wasn’t alive at that time, I would like to understand the culture in my own way, put it into practice, and create something together with everyone.
I think everyone who comes to the party, whether they like music or clothes, has the same vibes, so I want to get along with them.
As the name suggests, we want to make enigma a mysterious underground party.
Is this the first event like this that you organize? How regularly do you want Enigma to be celebrated?
Moe: This is the first time we are hitting an event properly like this one. It will happen on June 11th & July 16th at Sankey’s Penthouse, and on August 12th at 不眠遊戯ライオン (Music Bar Lion).
I would like to create an outdoor rave experience once the event has been properly established because music played loudly outside makes you feel the power of nature and a sense of oneness with the universe.
Unfortunately, there are still too many events with male-only performers or few non-male performers in Japan. The first thing that attract my attention and made me really happy is that the lineup of the event is female-only. Tell me about this decision, please!
It is true that there are not many events where the performers are all girls. I wasn’t really thinking about it, but when I heard the sets, I got excited and thought they would be a good fit for the fusion of fashion culture and music, so that’s what I decided to do for the first event. It’s a girls-only event, but I think you’ll hear a lot of great sounds, so please come and Shazam us all!
We hope to share the joy of music with our customers through our Faith parties.
What do you think that fashion means for young people in Japan today?
Moe: In the information society, everyone is becoming more and more average, there are fewer kids with out-of-this-world fashion like in the “Fruits” snap magazines of the early 2000s. I hope that Enigma will be a new place where those who feel out of touch with the current community can realize that they are not mistaken, and can share and have fun together.
Terry: Our generation has worked hard to protect Harajuku and the culture that we loved. I would like to see the next generation protect it in a new way.
Check Faith clothes at their website
Follow @faithtokyo and @faithvintage_online on Instagram
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