5 Plus-Size Japanese Fashion Brands You Need To Know About | CoolJapan

Japan is well known for petite fashion since a huge percentage of people in the country have a smaller frame. This made accessibility to Japanese plus-size fashion challenging for so many years. Thankfully, with the rising popularity of curvier Japanese TV personalities — Naomi Watanabe being the most prominent — more and more plus-size fashion brands are slowly starting to emerge. And it’s good news not just for locals but also for foreigners who want to try out Japanese fashion. Scroll on to find plus-size Japanese fashion brands that should be on your radar.


Punyus




Since we mentioned Naomi Watanabe, let’s start with her fashion brand. Punyus, which means ‘squishy’ or 'bouncy' in Japanese, was founded in 2014 by the 33-year-old TV comedienne and artist. According to Naomi, the term is mostly adoptable to women, making it an ideal name for the brand's identity. The brand’s style ranges from casualwear to more boldly designed pieces and covers 120 (which is smaller than SS) to 6X sizing. Punyus doesn’t label itself as a plus-size fashion brand because it wants to cater to as many body types as possible, which is Naomi’s vision as a body positivity advocate.

GU




GU is the place to be if you’re looking for staples that cover casualwear, officewear or even activewear. Their minimalist pieces are reminiscent of the light and dark academia aesthetic, which is trendy today. GU also does collaborations from time to time, their most recent featured the hit anime Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba. The brand’s sizes go up to 3XL for women.


Shimamura



Move over ‘plus size’; in Shimamura, they call bigger-size clothing ‘queen size’. This makes us wonder why we haven’t been calling it that, too. The brand caters up to 3L and 4L sizes and has a wide array of styles and silhouettes for shoppers to choose from. But that’s not all — shoes that are bigger than a size 7 for women are also hard to find in Japan. In Shimamura stores, though, you can definitely spot some in sizes 8 to 10 too.

Re-J




Looking for a one-stop shop where you can score good daily wear, office wear, and even lingerie finds? Re-J’s catalogue won’t disappoint. This indie plus-size Japanese fashion brand offers many amazing clothing options including comfy graphic shirts, stylish one-piece dresses and even cutely designed undergarments. Did we mention the sizes go up to 5L?


UNIQLO




Previously, plus-size fashion in Japan was only accessible through well-known foreign brands, along with a couple of indie labels. However, when UNIQLO came into the picture, it started to change the narrative on the accessibility of larger-sized clothing as a mainstream Japanese brand. The fast-fashion label caters to sizes up to 3XL and 4XL globally. In Japan, they offer large sizes in-store and the bigger sizes on their website. The brand has yet to standardise the availability of larger sizes in its physical stores, but given Japan’s history with petite fashion, its move to deliver more plus-size options is a big deal.

(Cover photo from: Madrona Rose via Unsplash)

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