Guide
Chinese lolita brands
Independent Chinese designers now release a large share of the world's new lolita prints. Here is how they sell, and how to tell originals from copies.
How Chinese indie brands sell
Most Chinese lolita brands are small studios with a Taobao shop as their only storefront. A typical release works like this:
- The brand previews a new print with illustrations or sample photos.
- A pre-order window opens, often for one or two weeks, with a deposit (定金).
- After the window closes, the print is produced; the brand asks for the balance (尾款).
- Finished dresses ship inside China, usually 30 to 60 days after the window.
Some brands also keep a small in-stock section, and many reopen popular prints later. See pre-orders for how we handle deposits and balances.
Why buyers abroad choose them
- Many new prints: releases every month, each in several colourways.
- Price: often well below the price of Japanese brand releases.
- Sizes: many brands offer S to XL or wider, and some make to measure.
- Variety: every style from sweet to gothic and classic.
Originals and copies
Taobao also has shops that copy prints from Japanese and Chinese brands. The lolita community strongly disapproves of copies, because they take sales from the designers who created the prints. Signs of a copy include a print you have seen from another brand, a price far below the market, studio photos taken from another shop, and no brand story or release history.
We buy only from original brands. Every brand in our catalogue has authorised us to show its photos and sell its designs.
Brands we work with
Each product page names its brand. As we add brands, their pieces appear in the catalogue. If there is a Chinese studio you would like to see here, tell us through the order form; we add new studios that agree to work with us.
Comparing channels? See where to buy lolita fashion.