Analysis of Pink Color in Kawaii Fashion

Culture and Computing: 11th International Conference, C&C 2023, Held as Part of the 25th HCI International Conference, HCII 2023, Copenhagen, Denmark, July 23–28, 2023, Proceedings

Pink is considered a critical color in Kawaii fashion and is associated with the perception of Kawaii-ness. This study investigates the use of pink shades in different Japanese Kawaii fashion styles, including Harajuku-type Kawaii, Lolita, Classic Retro Doll, Orthodox Pretty Cute, and Street Kawaii. In this work, we investigated how the four pink colors were used in five Kawaii fashion styles by measuring the distance of each pink color from the dominant colors in the corresponding style images. This method has never been employed for the fashion analysis. The results suggest that strong pink could be a universal color for product or fashion design. Outliers in Lolita fashion were attributed to the usage of dark colors, while the current Street style trend in Japan favors a sophisticated look with subtle accent colors. The analysis of the image based on distance from all four pinks shows that Harajuku-type Kawaii fashion is distinct from other Kawaii styles, confirming previous findings.
pp,580-591
Peeraya Sripian, Keiko Miyatake, Tipporn Laohakangvalvit, Michiko Ohkura