Review
------
Entertainment Weekly
-Japan's exalted status in the fashion department seems like a
given now--even non-sartorially inclined folks likely know
Japanese brands like Comme des Garcons and Uniqlo or could
recognize the trendy look of the Harajuku neighborhood. But
perhaps less well-known is the fascinating decades-long dialogue
between American and Japanese men's fashion that Marx skillfully
explores here...It's riveting to follow as men swap their austere
student uniforms from Japan's imperialist days for chicer garb,
no longer ashamed to care about style.-
San Francisco Chronicle
-You'd be wise to put Ametora at the top of your 2016 style
reading list.-
People
-A fascinating cultural history.-
GQ.com
-From perfect replicas of jackets to denim made on
old-school shuttle looms, the men's style scene in Japan was, at
one point, a time of classic Americana. But what caused
that shift post-WWII? And how did it come to be that Japan often
produces better versions of distinctly American designs (see: the
bomber jacket, all forms of denim) than we do? [The] new book,
titled Ametora: How Japan Saved American Style, answers these
questions while unpacking this fascinating relationship between
these two far-flung cultures.-
MensJournal.com
-W. David Marx's Ametora: How Japan Saved American Style is a
fascinating cultural history that tells the story of how the
country emerged from the Second World War and took now-iconic
American styles - from the Ivy League look to classic workwear -
made them their own, and maybe made them better.-
New York Journal of Books
-Exhaustive, analytical, intellectual, and thoroughly
researched.-
Vogue.com
-Uniqlo. Visvim. Comme des Garcons. Ever wonder why some of
Japan's pre-eminent fashion houses produce blue jeans, penny
loafers, and cashmere sweaters? Historian W. David Marx looks
into the phenomenon in his new book that explores the
cross-pollination between American style and Japanese taste.-
Japan Times
-Sartorially savvy and rigorously researched, Ametora is a smart
account of Japan's engagement with America through the lens of
menswear.-
Kirkus
-Wholly intriguing... an important contribution to readers'
understanding of cultural authenticity, the use of branding in
media to sell consumer goods, and how representations of
masculinity and rebellion evolve in the consumer marketplace.-
Entertainment Weekly
"Japan's exalted status in the fashion department seems like a
given now--even non-sartorially inclined folks likely know
Japanese brands like Comme des Garcons and Uniqlo or could
recognize the trendy look of the Harajuku neighborhood. But
perhaps less well-known is the fascinating decades-long dialogue
between American and Japanese men's fashion that Marx skillfully
explores here...It's riveting to follow as men swap their austere
student uniforms from Japan's imperialist days for chicer garb,
no longer ashamed to care about style."
San Francisco Chronicle
"You'd be wise to put Ametora at the top of your 2016 style
reading list."
People
"A fascinating cultural history."
GQ.com
"From perfect replicas of jackets to denim made on
old-school shuttle looms, the men's style scene in Japan was, at
one point, a time of classic Americana. But what caused
that shift post-WWII? And how did it come to be that Japan often
produces better versions of distinctly American designs (see: the
bomber jacket, all forms of denim) than we do? [The] new book,
titled Ametora: How Japan Saved American Style, answers these
questions while unpacking this fascinating relationship between
these two far-flung cultures."
B.J. Novak, Wall Street Journal, One of the best books of the
year
"Ametora by W. David Marx traces the craze for American fashion
after World War II in Japan, but it quickly becomes larger than
that. It's a fascinating window into how fashion, culture and
history intersect; you end up learning about several things at
once."
Wall Street Journal
"Mr. Marx writes with the understanding of how rich his material
is. The scenes and the style trends in his book are not only
interesting but often absurd."
New York Times, Men's Style section
"In a step-by-step account, Mr. Marx traces the history of this
cross-cultural sartorial phenomenon, from the Brooks
Brothers-influenced 'Ivy League' look introduced by the fashion
magnate Kensuke Ishizu in 1959 all the way up to Tokyo's
neo-traditionalist designers of recent years."
William Gibson, author of Neuromancer and The Peripheral
"A fascinating, finely-observed, highly readable history of the
wonderfully unlikely rescue of iconic 20th Century American
menswear by the Japanese who loved it when we no longer did. I
had of course been aware that this had happened, but had never
expected to see it reconstructed by a cultural historian of W.
David Marx's very evident skill."
Simon Reynolds, author of Rip it Up and Start Again: Postpunk,
1978-84
"W. David Marx is our most inful observer of the pop culture
traffic between Japan and the U.S.A. Focused on fashion, Ametora
tells the fascinating, intricate story of how Japan--the most
style-obsessed country on earth--has beaten America at its own
game, in the process established itself as the world's leading
nation for curation, simulation, and mutation."
Grant McCracken, anthropologist and author of Culturematic and
Chief Cultural Officer
"This is what happens when a really smart person takes on a
really interesting topic. Japanese culture and fashion come
shining into view."
Bruce Boyer, author of True Style
"W. David Marx's Ametora answers the questions I had about the
history and direction of menswear in Japan, and his research and
analysis will undoubtedly be the authoritative word on the
subject for years to come. This is a marvelously written,
important, and necessary read for any student of global fashion
today."
Gideon Lewis-Kraus, author of A Sense of Direction
"W. David Marx's Ametora is a careful, complex, wildly
entertaining cultural history of the highest caliber. This book
will obviously be of immediate and considerable appeal to
Japanophiles, classic-haberdashery connoisseurs, and other
assorted fops, but its true and enormous audience ought to be
anyone interested in the great hidden mechanisms of international
exchange. In an age overrun with hasty jeremiads about the
proliferation of global monoculture, Marx has given us quite a
lot to reconsider. Ametora is a real pleasure."
MensJournal.com
"W. David Marx's Ametora: How Japan Saved American Style is a
fascinating cultural history that tells the story of how the
country emerged from the Second World War and took now-iconic
American styles - from the Ivy League look to classic workwear -
made them their own, and maybe made them better."
New York Journal of Books
"Exhaustive, analytical, intellectual, and thoroughly
researched."
Vogue.com
"Uniqlo. Visvim. Comme des Garcons. Ever wonder why some of
Japan's pre-eminent fashion houses produce blue jeans, penny
loafers, and cashmere sweaters? Historian W. David Marx looks
into the phenomenon in his new book that explores the
cross-pollination between American style and Japanese taste."
Japan Times
"Sartorially savvy and rigorously researched, Ametora is a smart
account of Japan's engagement with America through the lens of
menswear."
Kirkus
"Wholly intriguing... an important contribution to readers'
understanding of cultural authenticity, the use of branding in
media to sell consumer goods, and how representations of
masculinity and rebellion evolve in the consumer marketplace."
"Japan's exalted status in the fashion department seems like a
given now--even non-sartorially inclined folks likely know
Japanese brands like Comme des Garcons and Uniqlo or could
recognize the trendy look of the Harajuku neighborhood. But
perhaps less well-known is the fascinating decades-long dialogue
between American and Japanese men's fashion that Marx skillfully
explores here.... It's riveting to follow as men swap their
austere student uniforms from Japan's imperialist days for chicer
garb, no longer ashamed to care about style.--Entertainment
Weekly
"You'd be wise to put Ametora at the top of your 2016 style
reading list."--San Francisco Chronicle
"A fascinating cultural history."--People
Book Description
----------------
From a rising fashion historian, the story of how
Japan imitated, assimilated, perfected, and ultimately saved
traditional American fashion
