The Minimal Manga-Ka

Rediscover the Japanese artist who combined clean lines with CityPop girls.

Towards the mid-1980s and early-1990s, Japanese manga and anime adopted a cleaner, more minimal look. Countless illustrations portrayed women in a more fashion-forward way, coquettish but somewhere between kawaii and demure.

Looking back now, it’s ripe for reinterpretation by a big fashion house for a campaign, or at least a modern homage by an artist. Like many things reinterpreted and given an elevated twist by the Japanese, when it comes to one artist who seems to be source code, it points to a person who was inspired by the American pop art movement of the 1960s.