Punk in Translation - the punk scene in Tokyo: exclusive preview

We bring you an exclusive preview of Japanese leather initiative Leather Japan's collaboration with avant-garde brand Blackmeans to create the exhibition Punk in Translation, which takes place in London from 9-11 January.

Produced by Creative director and stylist Harris Elliott - co-creator of the acclaimed Return of the Rudeboy exhibition, Punk in Translation, a photographic installation documenting the punk scene in Tokyo today features the work of Japanese documentary photographers Yusuke Yamatani, Tatsuo Suzuki and Naoya Matsumoto.

Yusuke Yamatani

It follows the sometimes visceral community of Japanese punks, and delves into the underground music scene. Highlighting the radical Japanese interpretation of punk and featuring Tokyo's unmistakable loyal punk following. The style is often integrated with traditional Japanese festival culture, and has a specific sensitivity towards detail, a natural characteristic of the Japanese.

Punk first emerged in the mid-1970s in London and was started by a few hundred young people who aligned themselves with an ethos of anti-fashion urban youth street culture. Its deconstructed garments with frayed edges, torn patches and defaced graphic prints would denounce traditional fashion, but ironically over time would create an entirely new fashion ethos, that still looms large in Japan today. It was also closely aligned with a music movement, led by The Sex Pistols, the punk band launched by Malcolm McLaren.

Punk in Translation will open with a private view at The Horse Hospital, Bloomsbury, London, WC1N 1JD on 8 January 2016 and then open to the public from 9-11 January 2016.