The Power of Influence: How Canada Compares

Over the past decade, Japanese influence on North American pop culture has seen a noticeable increase. Examples can be seen from the world of street fashion, luxury goods, film/media production, and beyond. Japanese influence has, at times, even been considered the driving factor in the success of numerous North American brands/artists. Take, for example, the famous American clothing brand Supreme, which was picked up by Japanese street culture in the early 2000s, and sold for a staggering US$2.1B in 2021.

Additionally, in 2007 and 2018, American hip-hop sensation Kanye West collaborated with Japanese contemporary artist Takashi Murakami to design the cover album art for his third and ninth studio albums: Graduation, and Kids See Ghosts. The albums achieved over 5 million sales and 90 million streams, respectively.

But what has made Japanese products and designers so popular in the North American market? What is their secret, and how can it be used to promote the Canadian fashion, media, and design industries? How can we leverage the power of big data to understand these market trends, and extrapolate valuable information for Canadian firms? These are the fundamental questions that will be answered through this internship.

Faculty Supervisor:

Alex Edwards

Student:

Partner:

Cansbridge Fellowship

Discipline:

Business

Sector:

Entertainment and Media; New and Digital Media

University:

University of Toronto

Program: