The Lolita Complex: - Scholarly Commons Home

and youth (post-school-aged) communities and that exhibitions in a similar
vein to Arts of Asia usually interested a more mature audience. When
Chuang began looking for a theme that she felt would interest a younger
sector, she immediately thought of Fruits and then began to contemplate
whether she might accomplish something similar. In late 2006, after some
research, Chuang found my abstract on Kamikaze Girls for Fashion in Fiction,
which had been published online, and discovered that I was based in
Auckland. It was a momentous day for me when I received a formal letter
from her asking if I would be interested in curating a show with her on
Japanese street fashion. After our first meeting I became aware that Chuang,
too, was one of the very few Aucklanders who considered themselves
members of the Lolita subculture and, like myself, frequently wore authentic
Gothloli clothing. With this shared passion, we decided that our exhibition
would focus on the Japanese Lolita phenomenon.
At this time, as I have mentioned, there was not much knowledge
about the movement around the world, and New Zealanders, particularly,
were quite unaware of it. This means that, from the outset, Chuang and I
faced quite an uphill battle. It is to Chuang’s credit that our idea even got off
the ground. This was partially due to the notion that G&L was not a topic
of merit. It was, though, with this show that perceptions, at least in this
country, altered.
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