h.NAOTO Sweet Halloween in Harajuku

h.NAOTO’s Halloween Party, which took place on October 15 featured outfits ranging from goth-loli takes on Alice in Wonderland and Little Red Riding Hood to stunning pure gothic and lolita fashion coordinates. Party hosts designer Naoto Hirooka and model Midori Fukasawa and the staff got into the spirit of the holiday as well, sporting capes and wigs, and the food was as pretty as the guests, with Halloween themed cookies, savory pastries, and mini-kebabs. Champagne and soft drinks flowed freely as guests mingled, talked, and browsed merchandise. Also displayed were embroidered lolita dresses, each one of a kind, that could be purchased that day as Halloween limited items.

There were tricks and treats aplenty. Customers were divided into four teams, each assigned to a different staff member. The first game was a visual game of telephone, where one person on the team was assigned a character to draw and the rest of the team followed one by one, with the team leader charged with looking at the final drawing and trying to guess who or what it was. The game was more challenging than it sounds. Participants were only allowed to look at the drawing by the person directly behind them, and so the characters quickly devolved as the drawing passed from participant to participant. What was originally intended to be Son Goku (of DragonBall) elicited a guess of “idol singer” by the end, and participants mistook HANGRY&ANGRY turned for “Hello Kitty and My Melody.” GRAMM designer z8 pulled off a shocking victory by discerning that the sketchy anime-style pretty boy she was presented with was meant to be designer Hirooka Naoto.

The second game was true or false, with personal questions about the staff, their families and hometowns, and their likes and preferences. Customers were quickly eliminated until it was one on one, and the winning team were given prizes. The losing teams, however, got a prize as well, so no one could be too disappointed.

The special guest of the evening was model Midori Fukusawa, who wore a witch-inspired coordinate from Naoto sub-brands Frill and Dark Red Rum. While there was no fashion show this time, each guest got the opportunity to have his or her picture taken with Midori and get a special signed card.

At the end of the night there was a raffle drawing where a few customers were able to take home door prizes. Nari, Hirooka, and Midori then made a final sweep of the room to choose their favorite coordinates. The staff member’s prize went to a dashing aristocrat in ghoulish makeup who really represented the gothic feeling of the evening.

 Midori’s choice was a girl in white lolita with HANGRY-style stitched makeup and an eyepatch, the perfect blend of sweet and creepy. Naoto chose a girl in purple and black, saying that he liked the fact that her coordinate covered several of the sub-brands and was well put together.

After choosing favorites, each staff member gave a message to the crowd. Nari thanked everyone for coming and said he was happy so many people came to the party. Midori said that since she had no Halloween plans, this was her Halloween party for the year and she really enjoyed herself. Hirooka took the time to invite everyone to the upcoming h.NAOTO Anthology collection Halloween weekend.

If there’s one thing h.NAOTO knows how to do, it’s throw a party, and there are more holiday events coming up! If you’re in Tokyo make sure you stop by and get the info!

There are 47 photos in this visual kei exclusive.

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