Japanese designers are obsessed with the United States. Some time after WW2, Japan became infatuated with everything American. With that, came the country’s obsession with the style of clothing Americans wore. Everyone always wants what they don’t have easily accessible to them, whatever is different from their norm, right? For Japan, that was Military wear, Levi’s and cowboys. Most Japanese fashion designers began to take inspiration from traditional Americana, while tweaking it to their liking. They took the classics and focused on slimmer silhouettes, native fabrics and impeccable design. Essentially, they created something rather unique. The American Dream through Japanese eyes as led to an interesting fusion of cultures. So much so that now several fashion forward Americans are infatuated with the designs of most Japanese designers. These labels tend to have massive cult followings due to their unique interpretations of Americana and huge attention to detail. It is unbelievable, and quite fascinating, that clothing has brought together two cultures that once were the worst of enemies.

Th “Dunks”, nicknamed by enthusiasts, are sneakers designed by the Los Angeles Designer Rick Owens, who is known for exaggerating the proportions of his designs. Back in 2006, Rick Owens created a sneaker inspired by the basketball sneakers he would see growing up. He added his touch to it by making them much larger and chunkier than your average sneaker, while handcrafting them in Italy from the finest leathers. This sneaker has garnered a cult following over the years due to its limited production run. As you can see from the pictures, the shoes have a swoosh like section on the side panels. It has been rumored that Nike filed a cease and desist order against Rick Owens, and that is why Rick Owens completely overhauled the design of the sneakers. The overhaul resulted in the removal of the swoosh. Since the sneaker was only produced for a little over three years, with the swoosh, they have become very sought after by collectors. Depending on the condition of the sneakers, they can run you upwards of two thousand dollars! Do you think it’s worth it to own a piece of fashion history? Or is it just hype?

Hedi Slimane is a French photographer and fashion designer. He had a short run of only one year at Yves Saint Laurent to produce the Black Tie collection for 2000-2001. He then was appointed creative director at Dior Homme, which he dominated from 2000-2007. From 2012-2016 he was creative director at Saint Laurent. Now, he recently was appointed creative director of Celine, to introduce the label’s first men’s collection. He is most notably known for his years at Dior and his second round at Saint Laurent. Slimane took much of his influence from his music taste and brought that to life through his clothing. He reintroduced the skinny silhouette for men to the world through Dior, which was a turning point for men’s fashion. He facilitated the social acceptance of straight men who were into fashion. The image he created later was strengthened when he returned to Saint Laurent, but only after causing an uproar when he removed the “Yves” from the name and remodeled all the stores. His years at Saint Laurent brought even more men into the fashion game, exposing them to Slimane’s classic rock & roll chic looks that will never go out of style.

Maison Martin Margiela was founded by the Belgian Fashion designer Martin Margiela. He is considered an honorary member of the Antwerp Six, which was an Avant-Garde fashion collective at the Royal Academy of Antwerp. Margiela was inspired by deconstructive fashions of Japanese designer Rei Kawakubo, the creator of the label Comme Des Garcons. This influence rooted a deep passion in Margiela to deconstruct and reconstruct clothing in his won way. He played with mixing and matching pieces from different garments of clothing that used unique fabrics to create interesting shapes. He also would take existing garments and move pieces around, completely distorting how the piece looks, while still being wearable. Margiela always stayed true to his avant-garde roots until he departed from the label in 2008. Within recent year, the label has managed to stay true to its past while professing into the future.

Raf Simons is a self taught Belgian Fashion designer who is formally trained as a furniture designer. He created his own label in 1995, was creative director at Dior from 2012-2015 and is currently chief creative officer at Calvin Klein. For fashion historians, he is mostly known for his own label due to its unique ability to depict youth culture  accurately with a distinctly punk feel. Throughout his early years, you could see a lot of personal influences in Simons’ designs. Music played a very important part in his design process, which included bands such as Bauhaus, New Order, Joy Division, Etc. His designs from his early years have garnered a cult following over the years which has resulted in a huge spike in prices in the resell market on websites such as Ebay and Grailed.