Editor’s Message
Welcome to Issue 2 of Volume 4: LOVE/adore
Do you remember your first love? That rush, the excitement? Well, I do, and there’s nothing quite like it!
Love comes in all forms: romantic, platonic, material and immaterial. We are all human and want to feel a connection of some kind, so society teaches us to expect romance and pursue it fervently. But it doesn’t always come easy.
Of course, romantic love is not the be all and end all. There’s no greater satisfaction than having the support of a friend or a community. Friendships can enrich our lives just as much as romance, unfortunately it is often pushed to the sidelines in favour of a “deeper” connection. But as the saying goes, mates before dates!
Most recently however, the mood has shifted away from inter-personal connections to connecting with ourselves. In the words of RuPaul, “If you can’t love yourself, how in the hell are you gonna love somebody else!”
Part One, is called I *Heart* You and romance is in the air!
It’s time to confess to your crush. Why wait for Valentine’s Day? And for those who are a bit unsure about how to confess, take a look at The COMM’s Do’s and Don’t of Dating. Spoiler alert: Those moves you’ve seen in manga aren’t going to work on everyone. A powerful kabedon will not get you far with the tsundere protagonist of your affections. If all works out you may find your other half. And if you’re really really lucky, they complete you and your outfit! At least that’s what happened with fashion power couple Masao and Takako.
In Part Two, I *Heart* Us, we examine friendships.
Iconic duos like Romy and Michele, Batman and Robin, and Rihanna and Katy Perry—true friendships make life worth living. Sometimes they are complete opposites like Lolita, Momoko and Yankee, Ichigo from Kamikaze Girls. While other times they live completely different lives but have been brought together by their love of kawaii fashion. Either way, friends are way more important than we give them credit for, so let’s shine a light on them.
He loves me, he loves me not, who cares? Because, in Part Three, I *Heart* Me!
Radical self-love has been a huge buzzword of late. But what’s so radical about loving yourself? Look through the annals of Japanese street fashion and you’ll find tons of examples of self-love. Take the gyaru, for example. They were labelled rebellious and selfish at the time, but maybe they just knew what self-love was before it was the mainstream.
Fast forward to today, and you cannot go a minute without reading or hearing about self-love and self-care. Is it just a passing trend, designed to sell candles and bath bombs? Or is it a hallmark of a desperate need for introspection? We talk to Jade from Kawaii Riot to discover more.
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What do you adore most about the community? We would LOVE to hear from you! While you’re at it, why not share your love-themed coordinates using the hashtag #thecommoffline on Instagram?
Choom
Editor-In-Chief