Witches of Bushwick

Black isn’t her only color. Inspired by Takashi Murakami’s anime witch series — the premise of Shu Uemura’s latest collection — YStyle pays homage to the true heroine of Halloween in full color.

In my second grade Halloween class photo, there I am three rows from the back, teeth bared in my smiliest smile, dressed as a witch. In third grade, there I am again, in all black, my witch’s hat perched on my ponytailed coif. In fourth grade… you get the picture. I wore that witch costume till I grew boobs.

I didn’t know witches were a bad word till a fellow sixth grader called me a witch because she couldn’t call me the “B” word. The stunned look on her face when I thanked her is still one of my most beloved childhood memories today.

Let me tell you, ladies. Witches are cool. Witches are rad. Witches are the shit. They don’t take shit from anyone and can whip up their own homemade beers — or brews, whatever â€” in a jiffy. And they can wear black all day without looking like they worked the day shift at a MAC counter.

In the late ’90s, Fairuza Balk and her crew introduced us to the Goth schoolgirl witch — which, let me tell you now, is not the only kind of witch you encounter in high school — in the Neve Campbell-starrer The Craft.

Now artist Takashi Murakami is trying to get in on some witch action. His Shu Uemura collaboration, which debuted this month, utilized artwork inspired by his animation series 6HP (Six Heart Princess), which he directed.

The renowned contemporary artist, best known for that other collaboration (Hint: starts with L, ends with V), works with hyper colorful palettes, evoking whimsy and childhood memories, in his work.

According to team Shu  Uemura, the animation series follows the adventures of mischievous magical majokko, i.e. witch girls, considered a popular anime genre in Japan over the last half century. “In this world, normal girls magically transform into super women, and explore new facets of beauty and femininity.” Takashi’s take on the genre draws on “aspects of Tokyo’s Otaku subculture and the worlds of cos play and manga.”

“6HP reflects the timeless and universal theme of transformation of feminine desires to reflect another, inner self, the parallel between real and surreal, the dark and light sides that exist in every woman.”

Photos by EVERYWHERE WE SHOOT, Styled by RABBIT HOLE CREATIVS, Makeup by JOHN PAGADUAN of Shu Uemura, Hair by APRIEL SEGUIN, Modeled by JESSICA YANG of Mercator, Nails by AISSA ACORNADO of Beauty and Butter,  (tel. 470-4239)