Kaneko-Kei

Pink House Summer 2001 Catalog

Kaneko-Kei (ｶﾈコ系) is an umbrella term for the fashion style based on the design work of Kaneko Isao, founder of Pink House and Wonderful World. Other terms used include PinHa (ピンハ)/PinHa-Kei(ピンハ系),Kaneko Fuku (カネコ福), Kaneko Fashion (カネコファッション), and 'Natural Kei', as well as simply variations on Pink House (ピンクハウス) Fashion or Style. Historically, girls who wore this style during the era of Olive Magazine are often described as Olive Girls, though the Olive Girl umbrella covers a large number of styles.

The term Kaneko-Kei (ｶﾈコ系) in Japanese was more widely in use around the 1990s and very early 2000s than it is today. As with some other modern street styles, for the purpose of social media tagging, using brand names like Pink House remain more popular for describing the style as of 2022.

Styling

Kaneko-Kei is characterized by layered, primarily cotton calico, skirts, dresses and blouses. Pieces frequently have heirloom elements like pintucks, patchwork and open work. Skirts and dresses frequently button up the front and it's common to wear 2-3 skirt layers with the top two unbuttoned to show a stripe of the lower layers in a way that evokes the traditional look of layered kimonos. Common motifs are fruits, flowers, bears, plaids and general vintage European motifs. Cross stitch, embroidery and knit elements and common embellishments. Colors vary, but tones like rich reds and royal blues, whites, creams, browns, mint, lavender, dusty rose, pastel blue and black are common.

realistic silk and straw flowers are common accessories. Shoes are often more plain / practical. Skirt lengths are generally tea length at minimum, with maxi length being the most common. Garments often include ties to cinching or bustling areas to alter the silhouette. Underskirts and cotton petticoats worn more for decoration than volume are commonly tight to the waist, while many dresses tend to be cut loose and baggy.

History

In the United States in the early 1960s, some hippies adopted old fashioned prairie style clothing that was mostly homemade. In the late 1960s, brands like Gunne Sax sprung up offering ready-made items in this style. The American Prairie Revival movement lasted into the 1970s, with an influx of popularity leading up to the US bicentennial, and made it's way into high fashion in the US in late 1970s through the work of Ralph Lauren.

Meanwhile, in Japan Kaneko Isao was working for the Ad Center and writing for fashion magazine Heibon Punch, and then An An. In 1969, he is fashion editor for An An predicting 1970s fashion by looking at what is being done in New York, Tokyo, Paris and London. In the early 1970s, while working for An An, instead of publishing items from random stores with captions on where to get them in the fashion pages, Kaneko Isao is designing the items being published in An An for the magazine shoots specifically.

He initially started designing prairie revival style items for sale for the boutique Nicole in 1971. He later left Nicole and started Pink House in 1973, and then in 1994, Kaneko Isao left Pink House and started Wonderful World. But across all 3 brands, and in the pages of An An, he was designing European folk influenced and American prairie revival influenced pieces. in July 1992, sewing pattern magazine, SO-EN magazine published a Pink House focused issue which contained an article with 75 photos that spanned 1972-1992 highlighting 20 years of Pink House & Kaneko Isao's work being featured in the magazine.

Kaneko-Kei is currently seeing an uptick in popularity in the early 2020s. Some factors that may be influencing this include the Pink House collaboration with Misako Aoki, the global cottage core aesthetic movement, and the Pink House brand's 50th anniversary.

Natural-Kei

While the term Natural-Kei has historically been used in the United States to describe this style, it's generally not used in Japan. In Japanese, Natural-Kei (ナチュラル系) is generally used to describe a style that is made of loose-fitting clothes in natural fibers in muted / unbleached tones.