Kwest For Kawaii

Moussy, a boutique located on the fifth floor of the 109 Building in Tokyo's Shibuya district, is dim, cramped and messy. The austere space communicates antifashion; there is nothing cool about the spartanic sloppiness. So why are hordes of ultra-trendy young girls lining up behind a velvet rope, eager to enter a shop whose untidy stacks of faded T shirts and cubbyholes stuffed with dark denim jeans remind one of little more than a misplaced garage sale? Here's a clue: amid the jumble of voices filling the shop as the girls paw excitedly through the clothes, one word can be heard...

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