Meet the artist: Mitsukazu Mihara

Mitsukazu Mihara, born october 17, 1970, was one of the most influential artists in the Gothic and Lolita style in early 2000’s. Being responsible for the illustration of a series of Gothic and Lolita Bibles, Mihara Mitsukazu helped establish what we understand, today, as Lolita Fashion.

Mihara Mitsukazu is a manga author and illustrator from Japan with a great portfolio. She debuted in 1994 with her short story “Keep Those Condoms Away From Our Kids” ( ゴムのいらない子供たち “Gomu no Iranai Kodomo-tachi”, and promptly won the first “Feel Young New Face Manga Awards” Judges’ Special Prize. This story later composed  IC in a Sunflower (集積回路のヒマワリ “Shūseki Kairo no Himawari“), a collection of seven indepenent stories written by Mitsukazu and  published by Shodensha, in Japan. If you live in the U.S., it’s possible to find IC in a Sunflower in English, since TokyoPop published it in 2007.

Other famous titles written by Mitsukazu Mihara are:

• Dokuhime (2002)
• The Embalmer (2002)
• The Twin Souls (2006)

Now, regarding the Lolita Fashion, it’s impossible to deny the impact Mikara’s work had at an early stage of the fashion. She illustrated the first eight covers of the Gothic and Lolita Bible, one of the most influential magazines of the Lolita Fashion and responsible for dictating the parameters of this street fashion.

Her distinctive style set the tone for the following numbers on Gothic and Lolita Bible. Not only that, it also helped set the expectations on the fashion at an early stage, valuing not only the silhouette, but also colour palettes and hairstyles still found on the gothic sub-style.

Her most recent work related to the Lolita Fashion can be found on the Moi-Même-Moitié celebrations for the 20th anniversary. Mihara drew the main illustration for this event, and her work features phone cases sold here on Wunderwelt.

Lastly, Mihara has also produced some collabs with GLB in order to release her own itens for this fashion.

Checking older Kera articles it is also possible to find some collabs Mihara did with other brands, such as Channel TOYBOX, for example.

Want to follow her work? Then don’t forget to check her social media:

Laura Ribeiro

27-years-old Brazilian, trying to survive with a black and navy wardrobe during the summer. I work as a freelancer writer in fashion, games and education. During my free time I enjoy sewing, writing fiction, drawing and, of course, playing lots of video game.