Biblioethica Mar/Apr Prompt: Sprout

Mori Kei is not a new fashion style. It has a long history and is rapidly approaching being old enough to be considered vintage (although I don't like to be reminded of that haha). 

Most of us are aware of Mori's origins: the Mixi group, the name from Choco, its growth in Harajuku, etc. But there is one person who really helped mori to sprout and often gets mentioned only in side notes: Choco, the original Mixi group owner. So today, I want to take a look at her and her contributions to mori fashion!

Where It All Started

Choco's personal introduction in her style book

Choco is a relatively unknown figure. She was a very private individual, and like many Japanese people online chose to never show her face or share her real name. Instead, she only went by the online name "Choco."

Choco was the person who created and ran the original Mori Girl group on Mixi. She created the group on August 24, 2006. According to Choco herself, the reason for creating the group was not because a style already existed, but because Choco already dressed in a unique way and wanted to find people with similar tastes and style to hers.

Luckily for Choco, and us, she succeeded! The group quickly grew, pulling in people across Japan and later the world with similar tastes in fashion. One cited number for its members is "36,810 members as of September 30, 2009."

Eventually, the name of the fashion would also grow from this group, when one of Choco's friends said she "looked like a girl who lived in the forest." Thus, the name "forest girl" or "mori girl" was born and caught on quickly with others who wore a similar style.

The style grew so substantially that Choco published her own book, Choco's Fashion Book, around three years after the group's creation. She also created the famous "mori checklist" that helps define the style even to this day!

(For most of the information in this post, I will be pulling from Choco's book, which you can read on the mori magazine archive if you are interested in learning more!)

Choco's Mori Life

Although Choco was a very private person, through her book, we can learn a little bit more about her and her preferences.

As already stated, there are no known pictures of her or her coordinates, but her style book has outfits curated by her and worn by models. Looking at these images gives us a glimpse into her person style!

Choco described her style as somewhat eclectic. She liked mixing colors and patterns, interesting fabrics, and fun accessories.

Throughout her style book, Choco doesn't shy away from colorful coordinates, whimsical patterns and accessories, and even unique silhouettes that some modern mori folk might not immediately recognize as mori!

She styled coordinates for every season as well! She seemed to be the kind of person who wore mori often throughout the year as her main style. Her favorite brands were marble SUD, cuccia, FELISSIMO Syrup, Par Avion, Birkenstock, Girlie Lounge "The", Q-pot, and Schleich.

She also promoted a type of mori that actively broke the rules of conventional fashion trends. She claimed that mori is "not natural," in that it defies the norm and focuses on dressing in what you think is cute, not what is known or popular. Choco herself said in her style book, "There is no right or wrong answer when it comes to being a Mori Girl, because it's about cherishing the things and clothes you like, regardless of trends." And she certainly embodied that in the coordinates she made for her book!

Choco's interests were broad, such as having a love for European folklore-inspired pieces and themes. She also enjoyed visiting bookstores and buying magazines on various topics and styles, and cute-looking books.

Choco loved taking pictures with her camera and was an avid photographer. She wrote about wanting to capture memories on film, took retro-style photos on a toy digital camera, and enjoyed taking images that played with light and shadows.

She also enjoyed visiting cafes, but not sophisticated or trendy cafes. Instead, she enjoyed cafes that made her feel like the atmosphere was unique and relaxed, chatted with friends there and enjoying sweet treats.

Some Retro Cafe examples

Where Is She Now?

Unfortunately, no one knows what Choco is up to these days. The Mixi group was closed to new members in the 2010s, and Choco's Mixi profile (which can still be accessed but only if you have a mixi account) went inactive at that time as well. Despite searching the internet, I could not find any updates about her whereabouts. But personally, I hope wherever she is, she continues to live authentically and happily in her own style.