NYLON - September 2008 - (Page 150) THERE IS NO DOUBT THAT GWEN STEFANI’S LATEST FRAGRANCE VENTURE, HARAJUKU LOVERS, WILL LEAVE YOU SMITTEN. TURNING JAPANESE Any chance you would ever do a makeup line? Of course! I would love to do a L.A.M.B makeup line some day. Makeup, like fragrance, can be an important part of creating a mood and a feeling when you’re getting dressed. harajuku lovers, $45 each, macys.com. Gwen Stefani might be the only person who could dye her hair powder blue, get braces, slap a bindi on her forehead, throw on a pair of parachute pants, and have a line of girls behind her ready to do the exact same thing. Since her early days as the front-woman of No Doubt, Stefani has consistently played by her own style rules, much to the delight of her fans. It’s no surprise then that her jump from style icon to fashion and beauty entrepreneur has been an easy one—Stefani’s L.A.M.B. and Harajuku Lovers fashion lines, and her first fragrance have all been widely embraced. So it was with eager anticipation that I, an avowed No Doubt superfan, awaited her next foray into fragrance. And Harajuku Lovers—not one, not two, but five distinctive perfumes inspired by the girls of Tokyo’s most fashionable district and housed in Kidrobot-like figurines—does not disappoint. Here, Stefani answers a few questions about her latest creations. FIORELLA VALDESOLO tokyo eye IT’S EASY TO SEE WHY THE GIRLS OF HARAJUKU ARE SO INSPIRING. 150 still lifes: jonathon kambouris. harajuku lovers ad courtesy of coty. tokyo eye: photographed by mari kodama. all images courtesy of the everett collection. Tell me about the characters and how they came to be. They’re each based on L.A.M.B. Love is love. She’s really just this easygoing, lovable girl, soft and romantic. Angel is from L.A., the city of angels. She is also easygoing, but more of a cheerleader type. She’s got a lot of spirit and energy. Music is the tomboy, the most aggressive, confident girl. Also, she is obsessed with and hugely inspired by Michael Jackson. When did you first visit She can be a little tough and Harajuku, and what struck she definitely has attitude. you most about it? Baby is the youngest. She is the I was first in Harajuku when I funniest one to me—the most was touring with No Doubt—it was like going to another planet conservative, but the biggest flirt out of all of them. She’s very for me. But it felt like going girly and sweet. And, luckily I home in a weird way because got to be a part of it too as G! I remember being in the shopping district and thinking, Did creating these characters “Wow, everybody here is so with specific personalities and creative.” It was very inspiring styles help to influence each and that inspiration stuck with of their scents? me all the way through making Each one was created from the dance records. I always got a smell that I love and that really excited about going back. matches each girl’s personality. I had inspiration points. Love is How did you come up with a soft, romantic floral with some the idea to connect Harajuku rose and jasmine. Angel is to fragrance? yummy with lots of my favorite I just had this image in my fruity notes. Music has some mind of how cool it would be real attitude with a mix of my to have each Harajuku girl favorite scents including pear, have her own fragrance, with sweet pea, and musk. And each fragrance bottle being in the shape of the girl; basically obviously I wanted Baby to have a powdery, baby smell. With a doll that holds fragrance. I G, I used coconut and other asked Coty if we could do five tropical scents because I love Harajuku Lovers fragrances, to wear those types of scents. not really expecting them to We’re all individuals, we’re all say yes, but when they did, the whole thing came together saying something different. And that’s what the fragrances are really quickly because I had supposed to be—five different already been thinking about fragrances so you can choose the project for the last four which one is you. or five years. Which of your fragrances do you wear yourself? I actually really like G, with its tropical smell. And Love is so pretty that I can wear it both day and night—it smells just like my favorite roses. I didn’t want to have all these bottles of perfume that I couldn’t wear, so I had to make sure I loved them all. Will you add more characters to the Harajuku world? The brand really lends itself to branching off in many different directions, so we will see! http://www.macys.com
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