oshare | a daiya fashion zine

お 洒 落

o s ha re \\ a dj . sma r tly dre ss e d; s t ylish; f ashio n - co n s cio us

a daiya fashion zine

お洒落 \\ a daiya fashion zine

kuram o chi yo uichi \\ 4 kuram o chi yo uichi \\ 5 yo u sh unshin \\ 6 ko minato r yo usuke \\ 7 à la m o de cover \\ 8 à la m o de inter view \\ 9 miy uki kazu ya \\ 1 5 nar umiya m ei \\ 16 y uuki tet su ya \\ 17 sana da sh unp ei \\ 18 o n e jers ey f it s all | misawa \\ 19 f ashio n thro ug h th e age s \\ 2 2

4 \\ k u ra m o c hi y o uic hi

k u ra m o c hi y o uic hi \\ 5

6 \\ y o u sh u n shin

ko min a to r y o us uke \\ 7

8 \\ Ă la m o d e c o v er

à la mode

\\ by sun

SYNCHRON7 Pushes the Boundaries of the J-Pop Industry Through Fashion \\ by sawamura eijun MONDAY, DECEMBER 23RD — On Saturday, SYNCHRON7 released the new single aNdRoGyNy that will mark the capstone of their upcoming album, titled LONE/ WOLF. Never the ones to do things in the traditional way, the group says that this album will “touch upon topics that others hesitate to explore.”

These four individuals are steadily gaining a name for themselves as not only musicians, but role models for unconventional fashion. Their individual styles in the music video for aNdRoGyNy showcased each member’s unique personality and also gave them an avenue to send a group message to youth struggling or exploring self and gender expression through fashion. Let’s break down what each member is wearing in the video and what their outfit choices mean for them as well as the others. Below is the transcript of the first part of our interview.

Sawamura: Top of the morning to all our wonderful viewers out there! My name is Sawamura Eijun, and you are watching the first segment of Seidou News’s À LA MODE: LIVE ever to be streamed internationally! Currently, we’re on air in Korea, Brazil, France, Australia, India, Canada, America, and of course, our very own Japan. And what a fitting day to be going global, because we have with us here the rising sensation SYNCHRON7, a group that has been crossing many different borders, and not just physically. Care to introduce yourselves?

Seto: Ready, everyone?

SYNCHRON7: <harmonizes the group name by adding in one person at a time, adding in “seven” altogether> Seto: We’re SYNCHRON7, and it’s so awesome to be on air with you all today! My full and true name is Mysterious and Ravishing Lord of the Semi-Darkness, but people usually just shorten it to Lord of the Semi-Darkness.

Okumura: No one calls you Lord of the Semi-Darkness, Taku. We’ve been over this.

Seto: <laughs> Alright, alright, so maybe I fudged the truth a little bit. My real name Seto Takuma! And this is...

à la m o d e in te r v ie w \\ 9

Okumura: Okumura Koushuu. Pleasure.

Kuki: Our oldest and most popular member.

Seto: It’s the aloof pretty boy type. Though I guess we’re all pretty boys. But Koushuu’s the real mysterious one.

Kuki: <laughs> That’s true. I’m Kuki Youhei, by the way, newest member here. I’ve only been with SYNCHRON7 for about three months now, so I’m excited because I have a lot to learn and look forward to.

Seto: And yet I can’t imagine our group without you.

Asada: That’s true! Kuki-kun, you’re very confident, and calm and collected especially before going on stage.

Kuki: Hey, don’t sell yourself short, either! You might get nervous but you always crush it in performances.

Okumura: Asada is very talented and a valuable member.

Asada: Wait, I didn’t— Kuki: Okumura’s right. This is Asada Hirofumi, everyone—don’t forget the name!

Asada: But that goes for all of us...

Seto: Don’t worry Sawamura-san, this is normal. It’s a good thing for everyone when Asada is blushing.

Asada: Seto-kun!

Sawamura: <laughs> Well, well, you’re certainly an interesting bunch! But before we stray too far, we should probably get into the main point of the interview—your clothes in your latest video! Let’s go to Kuki-kun first, shall we? Describe your outfit and tell us a little about the inspiration or anything else you think should be shared.

Kuki: Yes, uh, I think my outfit was the simplest one out of all of them? That’s not to say that it was the worst or anything, because I really do like it. It’s simple black overall shorts over a short-sleeved, almost but not quite feminine top. Something bold but in a way where you have to keep looking at it to really appreciate it, you know?

Asada: And the inspiration is a little based on history! The first overalls were rough material meant for hard labor because it’s durable and lasts a while, and it was kind of associated more with the working class, but now it’s rather fashionable. Women

10 \\ à la m o d e in ter v ie w

started wearing them when they were called to fill in for men’s jobs during wartime, but now many people wear it for fashion and such.

Okumura: Basically, it’s meant to show changing definitions and functions or purposes over time, like in clothing and honestly most things.

Seto: Plus, he just looks great wearing them!

Kuki: <laughs> Actually, Asada tried them on and he looks good in them, too. I might have also chosen it to keep me accountable when I’m dancing, ‘cause there’s nothing hiding my leg movements.

Sawamura: That’s awesome! Now let’s talk about Asada.

Asada: I’m afraid mine doesn’t really have as deep a meaning as Kuki-kun’s... We just basically went looking for jumpsuits geared toward men that weren’t super masculine, and added the combat boots for the growing trend as well. It was kind of hard, since a lot of androgynous looks are geared toward female-presenting bodies, but we did it.

Seto: There has been more diversity, though!

Okumura: Presenting a little more feminine as a male-coded person fit with Taku’s entire theme, too.

Seto: Hey, that’s a wonderful transition into—er, you were gonna talk about me next, right?

Sawamura: Jumping the gun, are we? <laughs> Go ahead and talk about yours, though.

Seto: Yes, yes, my equally fabulous outfit. It’s kind of like a button-down white top, but the torso is cut off to have a slightly billowy, flowing hemline instead of extending the full length of a shirt. So it’s like those crop tops, I think they’re called. The black shirt underneath is tucked into blue pants that have a large fitted waistband, and then are pleated just once at the tops of the pant legs so that the legs flare out a bit. And of course, can’t forget the black bowler hat and my personal favorite, the snazzy red suede shoes.

Kuki: They go perfectly with the red streak in his hair.

Seto: <gasps> Kuki... You’re a genius! I didn’t even think of that the whole time we were filming the video!

Sawamura: Haha! This one seems pretty elaborate. It’s got to have some deep meaning behind it too, right?

à la m o d e in te r v ie w \\ 11

Seto: <laughs> I feel like we’ve all been outdone by Kuki here. Now they’re expecting us to drop music and become philosophers.

Kuki: Hey man, if you really wanted, I could come up with a backstory.

Seto: Whoa, really?

Kuki: Yeah, yeah, Asada will help me out, right?

Asada: Uh...

Kuki: No? Okay. Uh, let’s see... The blue pants are inspired by hakama from our very own culture... If I remember correctly, they’re used in aikido and kind of became a symbol of power for nobles or samurai, but the real point is that they can be made in many different styles, some like skirts, some divided into pants, some long and short, and therefore they represent that all people in all shapes and sizes are powerful and beautiful!

Seto: Wow! Wow, wow, this man has it all—the history knowledge, the style, the deep answers. You gotta do it again for Koushuu’s outfit.

Okumura: I don’t think that will be necessary. Though I am curious.

Asada: I think it would be interesting!

Kuki: Okumura has to describe his outfit first, though. But after that I’ll gladly go for it.

Okumura: Alright. Like Taku, I have a hat, but it’s a little more fedora style. Highwaisted pleather leggings and a poncho style top with a lot of drapes or loose folds going on, and boots with wedged heels, everything in black. I threw in a kind of choker style necklace because it looked good, too.

Sawamura: Mysterious as the wolf boy himself, I see! Kuki, what’s your on-the-spot explanation this time?

Okumura: Did you just call me wolf boy?

Kuki: The drapes all over the top are formless and flowing and look really cool while Okumura’s dancing! Or even when he’s just moving around in general, but that’s a given in any outfit he wears anyway. So I’d say that kind of going along with the all shapes and sizes thing, if we focus less on the ideal body, it becomes kind of a moot point. The outfit is meant to accentuate itself, not market the body in it.

Seto: I think the black is good for this formless stuff too, since Koushuu could be

1 2 \\ à la m o d e in ter v ie w

like... the Dark Knight with a billow cloud of black smoke obscuring his entrance. He’s Batman! Is he about to drop some sick beats? A new dance move? We’ll never know!

Okumura: Am I a wolf or a bat? Make up your minds.

Sawamura: Aha! So you’re not denying you could be a wolf!

Asada: I think the point was that it doesn’t matter either way, or any way...

Okumura: It’s alright, Asada. I’m not that bothered by it.

Sawamura: I gotta ask, what were your favorite parts of the music video for aNdRoGyNy? Okumura, Kuki, Asada: The rap.

Seto: Wow, hey, it wasn’t all me! Kuki rapped some of it too.

Kuki: As support, maybe, but you carried most of it. Mashing up Seto’s rap with the rest of our lyrics or weaving it in really sets the vibe of each work, you know? Even the slow ones he’s able to bring character to. Anyway, in the video itself, he has this part where the main focus is his rap, and in the visual it’s all black and white in one half where he is, but he bursts through the partition in the middle to the complete stark white other side and there’s suddenly color and shapes exploding everywhere.

Asada: That’s my favorite too! It’s even more impactful because of the slow buildup before, with a crescendo into a very nice beat drop and bringing all the more attention to Seto-kun’s wonderful talent.

Okumura: He outdid himself there.

Kuki: Yeah, it was like God came and rapped through him!

Seto: Guys, I am seriously about to suddenly and dramatically melt into a huge pile of mush.

Kuki: You deserve it, dude. Oh! I also like the part where it’s all a dark neon background.

Okumura: You mean the part with the dragons swimming through the floor behind me as I walk away from the camera?

Kuki: Yeah!

Seto: I was gonna say that’s my favorite part, actually. Especially with your top

à la m o d e in te r v ie w \\ 13

blowing out dramatically behind you and the stop motion effect that they only put on your outfit. Pops out from the smooth animation and effects of everything else.

Okumura: Mine is when Asada and Kuki are floating around each other in the pond like yin and yang and then break into thousands of pieces and dissolve. Though it makes me want to call them to make sure it hasn’t actually happened.

Sawamura: Wonderful! If any of our viewers haven’t seen it yet, go check out the music video—it should be linked in the description and on our social media posts.

We’ll be back with SYNCHRON7 to ask some more fun questions and do a little competition after the break.

If you’re curious to see the music video for aNdRoGyNy and take a gander for yourself, join the millions of international fans already viewing and spreading the hype about it by watching it on YouTube here, and watching both parts of our interview with them here. And since we’ve just taken you through each of the members’ personal style choices in aNdRoGyNy, we’re curious to know: which style is your favorite? Have you been inspired by any or all of SYNCHRON7’s potentially groundbreaking fashion?

Or maybe you just want to scream about your favorite group member? Let us know or give us suggestions for future interviews in the comments below.

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mi y uk i k a z u y a \\ 1 5

16 \\ n a r u mi y a m ei

y u uk i te t s u y a \\ 17

18 \\ s a n a da sh u n p ei

one jersey fit s all

\\ by ray

When he was seven years old, he wore the same shirt for a week straight. His father had managed to have a personalized Yomiuri Giants jersey signed by the entire starting line-up. That birthday had been the best he could remember. Even if his mother had then spent the rest of the week trying to convince him to stop wearing the jersey.

A year later he hung it up and never touched it again.

Entering his childhood room, there was a soft whoosh of air that left his chest as he glanced around the room. The overly clean desk beside the messy pile of mitts and bats. The closed closet door behind which he knew a particular jersey was still hanging – it had been for nearly ten years. He sat down on his bed, eyes downcast and a deep sigh building up waiting to be expelled. The sound of a throat being cleared behind him pulled him out of his thoughts towards the entrance. Shining eyes and an understanding smile gazed back at him.

When he was twelve years old, he got a new jersey. This one had his name on it too, but it was different because it was his team. A team that he could play with and control. It didn’t matter that they would push him around or ignore everything he said during practice. It didn’t matter that he was barely their height or age. All that mattered was that this was something of his own that couldn’t be taken from him. The team couldn’t just walk out of his life, or ignore his existence every night.

He shifted to the side a bit, leaving a space beside him on the bed. The familiar creaking of the bed springs as the bed compensated for another weight pulled a small smile onto his face. Even with a layer of dust that belied how long it had been since he’d come into this room, he knew it like the back of his hand. Many hours had been spent in here, wearing his muddy practice uniform while lying on his bed. Bandages would have covered his knuckles and cheek, but the grin on his face as he flipped through another baseball magazine couldn’t have been hidden.

He glanced around to find the last remaining photo of his middle school baseball team, in his final year where he’d been starting catcher. The previous year he’d lost to Chris-senpai, but also found his future with Rei-chan. The team would never be one he cared for, having found the true meaning of a team at Seidou, but it was still the team that started it all. Picking the frame up off his desk he handed it to Eijun.

When he was fifteen, he joined the team that would become his family. It was too uneven then, and his sharp edges didn’t blend well with their sanded-down curves.

He was the newcomer and his quick mouth helped no one. But he still received the coveted “#2” spot he wanted, and then it felt as if they began to welcome him more.

His jersey changed again, receiving one with the signifying number on the back, that

o n e j e rs e y f i t s a ll \\ 19

fit him perfectly. He never strived to keep it particularly clean because the more dirt and chalk it had on it, the more he blended into the diamond. But that moment after laundering it, when the number looked crisp and clear, when the white, blue and gold clashed beautifully with his skin tone, he let out a deep sigh of relief. He had found home.

Eijun was looking at the picture, loudly gesticulating about how he had changed so little except to grow taller since they’d met, that he was still the evil catcher he always had been.

But he could see the laugh in Eijun’s eyes, the crinkle of his smile showing that it was all a joke. And that was the truth, afterall, he’d changed so much over the years. He reached over to his desk again, pulling another photo towards him. The frame of this one a little bit more worn down as if fingers had rubbed the sides often. The photo was the same as the previous, his team again. But this one was of Seidou, when he’d been the captain. When Eijun was the Ace. The one that meant the world to him.

He gave that one over as well, studiously not bringing up the tear marks on the glass right above Eijun’s face.

When he was sixteen, an upstart pitcher joined the team. It wasn’t the first time they’d met, and it certainly wasn’t the first time he’d caught for this particular idiot. And truly that was the reason he kept an eye out. Those eleven pitches, while seemingly meaningless in his bigger plan struck something inside him. So he kept an eye out. Watching as the bumbling first year managed to miss out on getting his practice jersey by insulting the coach, and then how the pitcher bloomed from there.

He was no silent witness, but he knew his role was agnostic at best. Though it wasn’t him who got the new jersey this time, but the pitcher receiving his starting line-up “#18” caused the same surge of relief to course through him.

There was a brief laugh from Eijun, presumably remembering the reason behind Kuramochi’s grumpy demeanour, that drew his attention. For some time they sat in silence, well as silent as Eijun could be. He stared at Eijun’s face, eyes tracing the familiar dips and slopes of his partner’s face, watching an exuberant smile spread across Eijun’s lips. Shifting slightly, he dipped his head to lean against Eijun’s shoulder. The movement must have surprised Eijun as he heard a sudden intake of air before they both relaxed again. Feeling fingers beginning to card through his hair, he let out another sigh and slumped further against his pitcher. Chuckles escaped his lips, and the responding laughter from Eijun filled the room with brightness.

When he was seventeen, not even an adult, he received the title of captain, and with that came a new jersey. It looked identical to the previous one, but he had grown again.

His shoulders grew in breadth and in strength. His muscles became more defined as the time he spent on the field exceeded the time he spent away from it. A new jersey came to take the place of the old one, becoming dirtier and worn out much faster. But there was a familiarity to it that he loved.

2 0 \\ o n e jers e y f i t s a ll

Eijun’s hand lifted away from his hair before resting on his cheek. There was a pressure against his face, bringing it up to be level with Eijun’s. A gentle smile on Eijun’s face pulled a half-smirk onto his. “Yes, Ace-kun?” A teasing lilt to his voice masked the vulnerability he felt with them being in this room. But Eijun didn’t take the bait.

When he was still seventeen, but a bit closer to calling himself an adult, they reached Koshien. For the second time. This time he was coming with an experience against the American team, with having caught for his childhood best friend and always-present rival, and with a new jersey. A new jacket. A new hat. This time there were even new sports glasses, bought by a certain pitcher of his. But this time he was coming with something else. While his reliable partner was with him the whole time, a gem on the mound, there was something else he felt even more. A surety in the team, in his team.

They won.

He watched silently as Eijun came to some kind of decision before using the hand on his face to pull him closer. For a second he didn’t breathe, letting the feeling of their lips pressing against each other wash over him. And then the silence dissipated, and it felt like the world was suddenly turned up to eleven. He pushed back, moving his lips gently at first, before pressing harder. His own hand curled into Eijun’s shirt, grappling for a point to anchor him.

When he was eighteen, he sat in his childhood bedroom and gave his partner a tour.

He showed off the dusty bookshelf, holding manga that hadn’t been touched in years, the closet that held his younger self’s beloved jersey, and the floor that had every jersey he’d received from Seidou. He watched as Eijun slipped a jacket off his shoulders onto the ground, mixing their Seidou jackets together until where one ended and the other began was no longer discernible. He bared his heart, showing the broken edges, where he’d sanded himself down to fit holes that no longer wanted him, where he’d shattered more in an attempt to fit in new ones. But Eijun only smiled and took the proffered heart with gentle hands. With all of Eijun’s famed boisterousness, he was put back together. Cracks and all.

They broke apart for a moment, resting their foreheads against each other as heavy puffs of air left their mouths. Silence reigned the room once again, broken only by Eijun’s soft whisper.

“Hey senpai, can I borrow a jersey?”

o n e j e rs e y f i t s a ll \\ 21

2 2 \\ f a shio n t h ro ug h t h e a ge s

f a shio n t h ro ug h t h e a g e s \\ 2 3

24 \\ f a shio n t h ro ug h t h e a ge s

f a shio n t h ro ug h t h e a g e s \\ 2 5

NARLITH

LEXIE

MOCHA

k u r a m o c h i y o u i c h i \\ 4 n a r u m i y a m e i \\ 16

k u r a m o c h i y o u i c h i \\ 5 ko m i n a t o r y o u s u ke \\ 7 y u u k i t e t s u y a \\ 17 s a n a d a s h u n p e i \\ 1 8

y o u s h u n s h i n \\ 6

naurlith @ twitter | ig narlith @ tumblr

wamuura @ twitter | tumblr

cremahn @ twitter [art] higekiri @ twitter [normal]

SUN

ARYA

RAY

à l a m o d e c o v e r \\ 8 à l a m o d e i n t e r v i e w \\ 9

m i y u k i k a z u y a \\ 1 5

o n e j e r s e y f i t s a l l \\ 19

lonelyarya @ tumblr

rayrayswimusic @ twitter | ao3 rayraywrites @ tumblr

hiraethstill @ twitter | ig | tumblr HiraethSatisfied @ ao3

p re s e nte d by g retch en’s h o m e fo r way ward dai ya f ans layo ut by le xie cove r a r t by le xie DAIYANERD f a s h i o n t h r o u g h t h e a g e s \\ 2 2

daiyanerd @ twitter