Cune: Cute meets quirky

Cune, in Shimokitazawa offers T-shirts and other products with pointedly strange characters, excellent typography, great colors and exact printing.

Cune's latest mascot -- a perverse little half-naked man in tight black pants and a boggled-eyed frog mask -- blends cute and creepy in a way that only Japanese designers can.

Bags shaped like tree stumps, with an array of different pockets sewn into the hacked-off limbs, are draped over black clothing studded with modular velcro pockets and pop patterns. Custom shoes, other strange character figures and more reserved jeans round out their latest collection.

Cune brings a poised, considered aesthetic from a variety of sub-cultural perspectives, infusing kawaii stuff with a weirdness, raw energy and highly individual signature style.