Love. Appropriation. Music. Baby.

Revision with unchanged content. With the release of her debut solo album, 2004¿s Love. Angel. Music. Baby., No-Doubt front-woman Gwen Stefani turned to the street fashions of Tokyös Harajuku district for her inspiration. The platinum-blonde Stefani promoted herself by being constantly surrounded with an entourage of four voiceless Asian women, dubbed her ¿Harajuku Girls¿. They were on her CD cover, she dedicated a track to them, they performed in her videos, and they danced on her Harajuku Lovers live tour. Stefani even re-named them, ¿Love¿, ¿Angel¿, ¿Music¿, and ¿Baby¿ after her new record and clothing line, L.A.M.B.. This study examines how the Harajuku Girls function as Stefani¿s human accessories ¿ silent, sexed-up, submissive, school-girl muses sent to save her from her dull whiteness. I introduce Stefani as an intertextual celebrity who appropriates, absorbs and cross-references cultural texts and ethnicities in order to market and brand herself as a distinct entity in the worlds of music and fashion.