W. David Marx is a writer on culture, fashion, and music living in Tokyo, Japan. He is the author of Status and Culture: How Our Desire for Social Rank Creates Taste, Identity, Art, Fashion, and Constant Change. A former editor of the Tokyo New York street culture magazine Tokion, his work has appeared in VOX, Popeye, NewYorker.com, and Lapham's Quarterly. He lives in Tokyo.
"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."--B.J. Novak, Wall Street Journal, one of the best books of
the year
"A fascinating cultural history."--People
"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."--William Gibson, author of Neuromancer and The
Peripheral
"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 Gar�ons 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
"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."--Wall Street Journal
"This is what happens when a really smart person takes on a really
interesting topic. Japanese culture and fashion come shining into
view."--Grant McCracken, anthropologist and author of Culturematic
and Chief Cultural Officer
"W. David Marx is our most insightful 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."--Simon Reynolds,
author of Rip it Up and Start Again: Postpunk, 1978-84
"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."--Bruce
Boyer, author of True Style
"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." --Gideon Lewis-Kraus, author of A Sense of
Direction
"You'd be wise to put Ametora at the top of your 2016 style reading
list."--San Francisco Chronicle
![]() |
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
![]() |