Accents are a funny thing, take the English language for example, so many ways to say ‘park the car’, so many ways to say ‘diplomatic immunity’. And isn’t it funny how we assume other languages only have one accent each…like surely all French people laugh in ‘Haw haw haw’, surely all Germans gargle spit when requesting another stein? It’s funny what happens when one culture interprets another. Mooks explores this ‘phenomenon’ in its spring collection, looking particularly at the way Japanese youth culture re-interprets western sub cultures, making them their own.

Jim Jarmusch paid homage to this concept, the Japanese obsession with the western world, in 89’s art-house film Mystery Train.Jarmusch’s road trip epic follows a young Japanese couple in their quest to visit The Great Sun Records Studios in Memphis, Tennessee, home of Jerry Lee Lewis, The Howlin’ Wolf, Rufus Thomas, and the King himself. Dressed in leather jackets, these rock’n’rollin cool cat tourists are the manifestations of a western pop genre through the eye of Japanese kids.

Mooks spring 09 explores this intriguing sense of throwing western ideas into the Japanese wash cycle, looking at the cross over in art, music and film. Samurai Texas rangers, Japanese bikey gangs, pop-art hello kitties, sushi pizza. It’s detailed concept stuff that goes down a treat on a hot summers day, be it Australia, Ostralia, Strayia or anywhere else in the world.

In store and online now. And finally in the words of Chik Chik Chik (!!!), ‘英語を話すここに誰ですか?

https://onlinestore.mooks.com/