Japanese Fashion & Streetwear

How is the Japanese fashion market divided, and which words describe each part?

By style scene, and Japanese sellers and shops use the scene words as categories. ドメブラ (domestic brands) covers Japanese designer labels sold mainly at home; 裏原 (Ura-Harajuku) covers the streetwear lineage of BAPE, NEIGHBORHOOD and UNDERCOVER; セレクト covers select shops such as BEAMS and UNITED ARROWS and their 別注 exclusives; モード covers the designer avant-garde of COMME des GARÇONS, Yohji Yamamoto and Issey Miyake; アメカジ covers American casual as reinterpreted in Japan; and 古着 covers vintage and secondhand, a large trade of its own. Most of these brands and shops sell through Japanese stores and online shops that deliver inside Japan only, and their sold-out pieces move to the Japanese resale market. OneMall gives you the Japanese address, pays in yen and forwards from our Japan warehouse.

Do Japanese clothing sizes match US sizes?

No; Japanese sizes run smaller at the same letter, and many Japanese brands use their own scales, so the 実寸 (jissun) measurements Japanese sellers list in centimetres are the only reliable guide. A Japanese L is close to a US M; designer brands use numeric sizes such as 1, 2 and 3; women's brands use 0, 1, 2 or F for free size; tailoring uses 44, 46, 48. Compare the four garment measurements against something you own.

• 着丈 (kitake) — body length
• 身幅 (mihaba) — chest width, flat
• 肩幅 (katahaba) — shoulder width
• 袖丈 (sodetake) — sleeve length
• サイズ 2 / サイズ 1 / F — brand numeric sizes / free size
• 実寸 — the seller's own measurements

What do the tag and condition words on a Japanese clothing listing mean?

They state provenance, season and wear in a fixed vocabulary. タグ付き means the retail tag is attached; 今季 and 昨季 date the piece to this or last season; 完売 means sold out at retail; 別注 marks a shop exclusive; and 国内正規 is the seller's statement that the piece came through the Japanese retail channel. Wear is described by location, and vintage pieces carry 古着 plus a decade. Provenance wording is the seller's statement: OneMall is a proxy buying service, not the seller, and does not guarantee authenticity.

• タグ付き / 未使用 / 試着のみ — tags attached / unused / tried on only
• 今季 / 昨季 / 完売 — this season / last season / sold out
• 別注 / コラボ / 限定 — shop exclusive / collaboration / limited
• 毛玉 / 色褪せ / ほつれ — pilling / fading / fraying
• 古着 / 90s — vintage, with decade
• 国内正規 — domestic channel, as stated by the seller

Which Japanese sites should I use for fashion?

ZOZOTOWN for new stock across hundreds of Japanese brands and ZOZOTOWN used for graded secondhand; Mercari and Rakuma for private resale, where fashion is a core category; Yahoo Auctions for archive and vintage; 2nd STREET for shop-graded secondhand; and the brands' own online shops, which can be ordered by pasting a product link.

What does a clothing order from Japan cost to ship?

Clothes pack flat, so the shipping line is small for tops and large only for outerwear and shoes. At order time you pay the yen price, OneMall's service fee, shown before you confirm, and the seller's domestic shipping if charged; when the items reach our Japan warehouse you choose an international shipping method and pay for it, priced on weight and volume. Buying from several brands and resale sellers and shipping once is how fashion buyers use a proxy. Import duty, if your country charges it, is collected on delivery.

Estimate shipping with the OneMall calculator →

Which Japanese search words reach fashion listings?

The brand in katakana plus the item type in Japanese, then a size or condition word. Scene words such as 裏原 or ドメブラ reach listings from sellers who file by scene rather than brand.

• ジャケット / コート / パーカー / シャツ / デニム — jacket / coat / hoodie / shirt / denim
• メンズ / レディース — men's / women's
• ドメブラ / 裏原 / 古着 — scene words
• 別注 / 完売 / タグ付き — exclusive / sold out / tags attached
• サイズ2 / Lサイズ / 実寸 — size and measurements