Gwen Stefani stands by her Harajuku era.
In a new interview with Allure about her vegan beauty line GXVE, the No Doubt singer opened up about criticisms of cultural appropriation. It began with the Japanese artwork used to market her 2004 debut studio album Love. Angel. Music. Baby., and continued with the 2008 launch of her Harajuku Lovers fragrance.
She told the outlet she had a revelation when she finally visited Japan for the first time, "I said, 'My God, I'm Japanese and I didn't know it.'"
The Voice judge added, "If [people are] going to criticize me for being a fan of something beautiful and sharing that, then I just think that doesn't feel right. I think it was a beautiful time of creativity… a time of the ping-pong match between Harajuku culture and American culture."
She elaborated further: "[It] should be okay to be inspired by other cultures because if we're not allowed then that's dividing people, right?"