MILK
 | |
| Founded | April 1970 |
|---|---|
| Country | Japan |
| No. of locations | 4 |
| Website | website |
| Webshop | webshop |
| MILK1970 | |
| Blog | blog |
| milk__official_ | |
| Current status | Active |
| Lolibrary Link | |
While Milk has never self-identified as lolita, and instead set out to make clothing that matched the current generation's idea of "girly", Milk's items were frequently selected by early lolita to help construct their coordinates in the lolita style, and therefore, Milk is considered to be one of the earliest lolita brands. While most lolita-specific brands evolved their offerings as the definition of lolita fashion evolved, Milk has stuck with their roots as a "girly" brand. Today, their work continues to match current trends in "girly" clothing while incorporating romantic and retro elements and has more in common with their own work from 30 years ago than with the mainstream modern lolita look. The founders of both Shirley Temple and Jane Marple worked as designers for Milk before branching off into their own labels.
Concept
In 1994, in an interview With Zipper, a spokesperson for MILK described the brand concept as "A girl's dream" (”少女の夢“)[1]. However, Milk's about page currently has this story as the brand concept:[2]
It was in the year 1970.
High above the city, up in the sky, God was about to drink his cup of milk.
Drip drip… God accidentally tipped over his glass!
The milk went pouring down right on top of Harajuku.
So, he decided to change the spilled milk
into a shop called “MILK”.
Sub-labels
Obscure Desire of Bourgeoisie (O.D.O.B.)
The oldest existent trademark in the digital trademark lookup for O.D.O.B. was registered by Milk Co., Ltd. August 1990.[3]
Milk Boy
Milk Boy is a line for teenage boys and young men which produces items which are a mix of retro and punk/street inspired. The oldest existent trademark in the digital trademark lookup for Milk Boy was registered by Milk Co., Ltd. August 1990.[4]
Vixen Products
Milk Co., Ltd. registered a trademark for Vixen Products February 1st, 2017,[5] and registered a twitter for the label in March of 2017.[6] The label had a collaboration with Casper in October of 2019, and seemed to do things like popups and a cafe. On Halloween, 2019 they posted to Instagram "vixen cafe: [Notice of long-term closure] We will be closed for a long time from November 1st (Friday) . In addition, we will inform you on each SNS when holding an event etc. Thank you for your cooperation."[7] They have not yet resumed activity as of January 2022.
History
Milk was founded in 1970 in Harajuku by Hitomi Okawa.[8] On July 12th, 1971, they filed trademarks for the name MILK for a few overarching categories that covered items like shoes/umbrellas/jewelry/bags[9][10]
Initially, "MILK", was expensive and unrealistic for everyday wear, so it was mainly used as a stage costume for idols, however, people started wearing Milk as everyday clothing as time went on.[11] In October 1994, Zipper interviewed 3 brands considered to be lolita at the time about lolita fashion. The media relations person for Milk said that 'I think what is now called lolita fashion is the fashion that milk has been making for a long time.'[1]
Milk is currently owned by Milk Co., Ltd. (有限会社ミルク)
Locations/Sales Model
Text here
Shop List
Any intro text if desired [12]
| Shop | Country | Address | Status | Socials |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harajuku | Japan | 6-29-3 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-0001 | Open | MILK1970 |
| Shinjuku | Japan | Shinjuku Marui Annex 2F, 3-1-26 Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-0022 | Open | MILKshinjuku |
| Osaka | Japan | Tennoji MIO Plaza Building 2F, 10-48 Hidenincho, Tennoji-ku, Osaka 543-0055 | Open | MILKOSAKAten |
| Sapporo | Japan | PARCO 3F, 3-3-3 Minami 1 Jonishi, Chuo-ku, Sapporo 060-8502 | Open | milk_milkboy_s |
| MILKBOY Harajuku | Japan |
|
Open | milkboyharajuku |
| LAND by MILKBOY IKEBUKURO | Japan | 1-50-35 Higashiikebukuro, Toshima-ku, Tokyo 170-0013 Ikebukuro P'Parco 1F | Open | land_ikebukuro |
| LAND by MILKBOY SHIBUYA | Japan | Shibuya Parco 5F, 15-1 Udagawa-cho, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-0042 | Open | land_shibuya |
| LAND by MILKBOY UMEDA | Japan | Umeda Est 1F, 3-25 Kakuda-cho, Kita-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka 530-0017 | Open | land_umedaten |
| MILK MILKBOY THE OUTLETS HIROSHIMA | Japan | 4-1-1 Ishiuchihigashi, Saeki-ku, Hiroshima-shi, Hiroshima 731-5162 | Open | MILKMILKBOYhrsm |
Notable Figures
Hitomi Okawa (大川ひとみ) - Founder/Designer[8]
Rei Yanagawa (柳川れい) - Designer, started Shirley Temple in1974
Megumi Murano (村野めぐみ) - Designer, started Jane Marple in 1985
Characters & Design Motifs
This section is incomplete, you can help it by adding information about: Mascots, common/original design elements
Gallery
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Zipper: ロリータ"って何?. 1994.
- ↑ "About Milk". Milk Web.
- ↑ "Trademark Number 2505598".
- ↑ "Trademark Number 2545302".
- ↑ "Trademark number 5976503".
- ↑ "@vixen_products". Twitter.
- ↑ "Vixen Cafe Closure".
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 "MILK". Fashion Press.
- ↑ "Trademark Number 1061465".
- ↑ "Trademark Number 1157047".
- ↑ Takemoto, Novala (2010). Patchwork. Japan. p. 77. ISBN 978-4167773861.
- ↑ https://milk-web.net/shoplist/
External links
- Example link – an external link to example.com
- [1] – an external link without a label
