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M+, Hong Kong, © Yamaguchi Harumi
Yamaguchi Harumi 山口晴美
Superstar 超級巨星
1982
In the context of Tokyo’s vibrant consumer culture of the 1970s and 1980s,
Yamaguchi Harumi produced a series of airbrushed depictions of female figures
for PARCO, a new, youth-focused department store brand. PARCO made the
bold decision to hire an all-female creative team to develop its advertising
campaigns, and Yamaguchi’s radiant figures—who came to be known as ‘Harumi
gals’—are not objects of a male gaze but rather liberated, self-assured women
who pursue their own interests. They wear sneakers and roller skates as well as
heels, ride surfboards and skateboards, and relax poolside. These depictions
of emphatically independent women formed a vision of a desired change in
society, and Yamaguchi’s distinctive airbrush technique was essential for
the construction of images that are simultaneously realistic and aspirational.
This particular drawing, made for a PARCO poster, captures the poised
confidence that defines the Harumi gal.
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