Lolita fashion
Although the origin of the fashion is unclear, at the end of the 1970s a new movement known as "Otome-kei" was founded, which slightly influenced Lolita fashion since "Otome" means "maiden" and maiden style looks like a lesser elaborated Lolita style. Before Otome-kei emerged, there was already a rise of the cuteness culture in the earlier seventies; during which there was a high emphasis on cute and childish handwriting in Japanese schools. As a result of that the company Sanrio began experimenting with cute designs. The cuteness style, known as "kawaii style", became popular in the 1980s. After Otome-kei, Do-It-Yourself behavior became popular, which led to the emergence of a new style called 'doll-kei', the predecessor of Lolita fashion.