SHOPPING: MASSIVE x OPENING CEREMONY

My first encounter with gay manga was five years ago in Tokyo in this tiny bookstore located in Shinjuku. They had Gengoroh Tagame’s books displayed all over the room. It’s only months later that I discovered Jiraiya’s work on Tumblr. I immediately adored the hyperrealism of their drawings packed with kinky but fun characters, beautiful homage to Tom of Finland. So I couldn’t be happier to see Opening Ceremony teaming up with Massive (aka writer Anne Ishii and filmmaker/designer Graham Kolbeins) for a capsule collection and seeing Jiraiya’s bimbos meeting a larger audience. The series includes tees, sweatshirts and beach towels giving to the illustrations a very playful but also a slightly provocative touch. It’s refreshing to finally see chubby characters sexualized and magnified in a very positive way.