00:04This is my lifestyle.
00:09I feel like I'm going to live this way.
00:14First of all, I'm the most beautiful person.
00:31Tokyo, Japan.
00:33This is a land known for order and discipline.
00:36But for every social custom and rule, there are those who seek to break them.
00:41I'm here to find Decora Girls.
00:51More than ten years after this iconic fashion subculture began, a new generation is pushing the limits even further.
00:58This is a culture where there are school uniforms here, there are uniforms for work, pretty much uniforms for everything.
01:04Kat is a German Decora living and teaching English in Tokyo.
01:08How does this allow you to really express who you are?
01:12Decora fashion is fun fashion.
01:14It's very against the mainstream of things.
01:17It's not in a magazine.
01:18It's not elegant.
01:19It's very much boom in your face.
01:21It can scare people a little bit.
01:23Some people just go,
01:24Ooh, that might be a weird person there.
01:26While Decora might be a direct rebellion against Japan's strict uniform culture,
01:31these girls aren't outcasts or loners.
01:33In fact, some of them are celebrities.
01:44With over half a million followers on social media, Kuribayashi is one of the most famous Decora Girls in the
01:51world right now.
01:59And Yunyan is one of the rare Decorah boys with an equally fanatic following.
02:03I meet them at their favorite cafe, a self-styling salon in the neighborhood of Harajuku.
02:08Why do people feel that they have to come here to get ready?
02:12They can't do it at home?
02:13If you come here in Harajuku, if you come here, all of these people are集ed to be able to share
02:20it with you.
02:24It's cute!
02:29How long have you both been dressing Decorah?
02:32About six or seven years.
02:37So this is your favorite Decorah store?
02:40Yes.
02:46Fun as it may be, I have to wonder, could they be using the colorful barrettes and accessories to hide
02:52behind?
02:53You see this as being like a mask, like you're playing a character.
02:58The mask is not as a character or as a character.
03:06I don't think I'm wearing a mask.
03:09I don't think I'm wearing a mask.
03:12I'm wearing a mask like that.
03:14I don't think I'm wearing a mask.
03:16I don't think I'm wearing a mask.
03:19It's like a mask like that is.
03:19Kurabayashi and Yunyan seem to embody this style completely.
03:24But what did Decorah look like when it first began?
03:35So Shiaoki is the founder of Fruits magazine, the most respected publication in Japanese street fashion.
03:46He has been documenting Japanese street style for more than 20 years.
04:00The Decorah girls that I've seen have really pushed the amount of accessories they wear to the limit.
04:18Japanese culture values the group over the individual. It's the way social order is maintained.
04:25Decorah may be breaking the mold, but maybe it's still within the framework of what is accepted.
04:31I'm hoping to get some perspective from a Decorah girl who lives outside the city.
04:37When I was in high school, I didn't have a difference.
04:4723 year old Kanaye lives in the suburbs of Tokyo with her husband, baby and extended family.
04:54Tonight, we're going to meet her friends in Harajuku.
04:57And she wants to show me how a Decorah look comes together.
05:00I wanted to wear a costume from before.
05:05This is a colorful wig.
05:08This is an accessory.
05:11So how long does it normally take you to get ready?
05:14It's about 2 hours.
05:18Two hours?
05:20Two.
05:21Wow.
05:23How do you decide the arrangement of all the hair clips?
05:26That's how you can get a standard of the color.
05:32I think that's why I'm wearing the color and the colorIA.
05:36I'm wearing the color is the space.
05:39I like this style.
05:47I'm wearing the color.
05:51And you just put on a card.
05:55So how do you wear the color?
05:55With it a slow introduction into Decorah,
05:56The look is complete?
05:58Just a little bit.
05:59Of course, a little bit more.
06:02What do you think of Kanaye dressed in Decorah?
06:09I'm especially...
06:10I'm doing my favorite things, and I'm enjoying it.
06:14I think I'd like to make my friends.
06:18I don't know.
06:21As we leave the grey suburbs behind,
06:23I see Kanaye's demeanor begin to change.
06:27Decorah isn't an elaborate costume,
06:29or even something to hide behind.
06:31It's just an outer expression of something inside
06:33that's just waiting to get out.
06:36Yeah, but in fact,
06:37I think it's true to myself.
06:40I think it's true to myself.
06:42I think it's true to myself.
06:43It's true to myself.
06:48Decorah is important.
06:56I think it's the freedom of expression.
06:59You don't have to look every day the same.
07:01You wear the things you love,
07:02the way you want to wear them.
07:04This is not a label.
07:06It's not someone else's thing.
07:07It's my thing.
07:21Decorah truly is a fearless fashion.
07:24A celebration of who you are.
07:27It's a reminder to let go of the rules
07:29and just wear what makes you feel good.
07:32Have fun with fashion.
07:34Have fun with fashion.
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