Tokyo Street Style: Shimokita

An international symbol of post-modern consumerism, Tokyo is a visual tapestry of competing references and cultures, famed for a symphonic skyline which switches from temples of ancient pasts to skyscrapers of distant futures with unquestionable elegance and propriety. The Far-East's answer to NYC, Tokyo is a bar-setting metropolis which blends old and new like an expertly curated gallery where each element is captivating in isolation, but utterly mesmerising when absorbed as one.

This intrinsic blend of references and style codes has trickled down into the very fabric of Tokyo culture and informs, quite literally, the fabrics its inhabitants produce, source and consume. Defined by a distinctly post-modern sensibility; a digitally developed hyper-city with a legacy that spans the millennia, Tokyo is a global hotspot for culture of almost any form.

Continuing our Tokyo street style series, international streetstyle photographer Robert Spangle captures the very best fashion and lifestyle that this iconic city has to offer exclusively for END.

Following on from our retrospectives on Harajuku, Ebisu, and Shinjuku streetstyle, our Tokyo streetstyle focus concludes with Shimokita. Renowned for its narrow pedestrianised streets, the logistical challenges posed by this ancestral neighbourhood has protected it from mass-market retailer gentrification. Preserved as an anti-corporate haven of independent stores, bars, and restaurants, the district has become a cultural hub of arts and entertainment frequented by current pioneers of Japanese youth culture.