Sporting bright pink bobbed hair and wearing thick eyeliner, Ami and Aya are fashion mirrors of each other. The women are twins and futuristic sci-fi models known by the name AMIAYA.
Aged 30, the sisters' coordinated fashion have won broad acclaim, and their names have been on a variety of luxury brands' runway show invitation lists since last spring. At those venues, they are regularly bathed in photographers' flashes.
The duo work as DJs and also head jouetie, a fashion brand for young women.
Hailing from Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, the sisters grew up in a family running a clothier. They already loved fashion in their childhood days.
"Since we were in the fourth grade of elementary school, we would decide what to wear by ourselves," Aya said.
After dropping out of high school, they worked part time to save money and came to Tokyo when they were just 15. They modeled for fashion magazines and auditioned for fashion jobs, gradually expanding their career.
Eye-catching fashion coordination is their strategy, which they work on together.
There was a time when they felt uncomfortable drawing attention to themselves just because they were twins, especially when they were teenagers.
Three years ago, they were invited to a fashion show in Milan, where one visitor asked them, "You look alike. Are you twins?"
Such remarks convinced them that being twins can be their strong point and that if they dress the same way, their appearances would be even more eye-catching, and people would find them even more interesting.
Since then, they have dyed their hair pink and seriously started pursuing their own twin fashion coordination by wearing clothes of the same design but in different colors, for example.
They are petite. Aya is 158 centimeters tall, while Ami is 160 centimeters tall.
"We strive to make a strong presence by wearing high heels and puffy outer clothes, for example," Ami said.
Each twin has her own strength, a trait they make the best use of in their fashion -- Ami comes up with surprising ideas on layered fashion, and Aya coordinates accessories, all to achieve their elegant fashion with pop Tokyo colors.
They work hard and seriously when they get job offers.
Both Ami and Aya agree that they are immensely enjoying themselves now because they can express their feelings through their fashion. Their shared goal is to become international fashion icons. Because there are two of them, their charms and fashion sense shine doubly bright.
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