Gyaru Subculture

10BN930D Ya-chieh, Yang (Missy)

08BN044L Takumi Kuramoto

08BN088P Masahiro Nakayama

10BN940D Catarina Trinh

Agenda

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• What is Gyaru?

• How to identify them?

• Where to find them?

• Gyaru’s background• How to reach them? (Basic communication model)

– Sender

– Message

– Channel

– Receiver & Feedback

• The Next 10 Years

What is Gyaru?

• Gyaru ( ギャル ) is a Japanese transliteration of

the English word gal.

• The name originated from a 1970s brand of jeans

called "gals", with the advertising slogan: "I can't

live without men", and was applied to fashion- and

peer-conscious girls in their teens and early

twenties.

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• Young Japanese women known for outrageous

fashions and hanging out in Tokyo’s club

districts.

• They have fake tans, wear short skirts, and favor

accessories big on bling.

• They abandon traditional Japanese feminine

modesty and are tough, rude, crude, and ultra-

sexy.

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How to identify them?

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Kawaii Accessories

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Where to find them?• Place

– Shibuya

– Harajuku

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• Brand─ Coco Lulu, ─ Coco Bongo, ─ Kapalua ─ Alba Rosa

Gyaru’s background

• Gyaru’s origin started in the 1980’s with Japanese

economic growth

• Consequently, the teenagers had the luxury to

splurge on luxury branded clothing and accessories.

• It led to the notion that the Japanese are obsessive

brand consumers, a stereotype that remains to this

day.

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• Decline of the Japanese economy influenced the

huge allowances that girls so freely enjoyed also

declined.

• This led to Japanese teenagers being unable to

spend their money on purchasing the brand

name goods.

• Instead, they searched a contrastive way to omit

their expression by tanning their bodies,

bleaching their hair and bringing a bright, loud

and liberal attitude to the Tokyo streets.9

• Due to the social backgrounds and needs of the

individual the Gyaru theme has evolved into various

directions.

• As the Japanese economy improved, so did the

popularity of the expensive branded goods.

• Accessories from luxurious European designers such

as Prada, Burberry and Louis Vutton became an

essential addition

• The girls returned to a similar level of spending as

before.

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How to reach Gyaru? by Basic Communication Model

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Feedback

Sender(Source)

Message Channel(Medium)

Receiver(Consumer)

Sender• Opinion Leader

– Amuro Namie

– Ayumi Hamazaki

– Tsubasa Masuwaka

– Kana Nishino

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Message

• To acquire female social freedom through

fashion and expression.

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• Magazines

– EGG

– NUTS

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Channel

• Music─ Para-Para─ Pop Music

• Others─ TVs─ Internet (ex.Blog)

Receiver & Feedback

• Receiver

– Gyaru

• Feedback

– Scale of the market is more than 100 billion yen

– Gyaru typically spend around 80,000 to 100,000 Yen a month on fashion items

Successful feedback

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The Next 10 Years• The Gyaru subculture is growing and will evolve in

different directions.

• Gyaru has a huge influence on Japanese fashion,

therefore it remains a strong market in the future.

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Reference• “Gyaru” (2010) URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyaru -

Retrieved December 21, 2010

• “Gyaru” (2010) URL:

http://www.tsujiru.net/compass/compass_1999/reg/group_2

.htm - Retrieved December 23, 2010

• “Gyaru” (2010) URL:

http://web-japan.org/trends/fashion/fas041125.html -

Retrieved December 21, 2010

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Thank you for listening

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