Mass-Produced Japanese Fashion: Why Brands Sometimes Don’t Matter

While browsing Ali Express one day, I spotted a cosplay dress I really liked. It definitely could be categorized as J-Fashion, and it even came in plus sizes! I added it to my cart, planning to grab a few more items the next day. But when I opened the site again in the morning, the dress had disappeared, not sold out, just gone.

So, like anyone would, I ran a reverse Google image search. Imagine my surprise when the first result was from a popular plus-size J-Fashion website. The dress was identical, with the same photos, the same material composition, everything- but at double the price. That’s when I noticed a small detail in the description: “mass-produced.” Searching even further, I found the same dress on English cosplay store sites, as well as popular market sites like Shein, Rakuten, Taobao and Amazon. What gives?

What “Mass-Produced” Really Means

In Japanese fashion, a mass-produced item isn’t exclusive to one brand. Multiple shops can sell the exact same piece, and no single retailer owns the “original” design. These items are made in bulk by manufacturers and then sold wholesale to brands that resell them under their own labels.

This practice is especially common in plus-size Japanese fashion, where options are already limited, and even more so in alternative styles. Very few plus-size Japanese brands create their own designs; most stock mass-produced pieces.

The Authenticity Confusion

This overlap creates a lot of confusion about what’s “authentic.” Even well-known brands like Dear My Love and AngeLsize primarily carry mass-produced items. If you reverse image search their listings, you’ll often find the same items on AliExpress, Taobao, or Amazon.

So which came first, the brand or the manufacturer? Sometimes a brand commissions an original design that later appears unbranded online - that's an original piece that belongs to the brand, and the labelless copies are dupes. But when the listing on a brand's site clearly says “mass-produced,” it means the item was not designed by the brand at all. The manufacturer made it and sells it to multiple retailers.

Dupes vs. Mass-Produced

Dupes are still an issue in J-Fashion. Some manufacturers copy popular items without permission, creating near-identical versions for sale. But for everyday shoppers, telling a dupe apart from a legitimately mass-produced piece can be tricky.

When you see a dress from AngeLsize also listed on Shein or AliExpress, it doesn’t automatically mean it’s a knockoff. It may just be a mass-produced item available to anyone who buys wholesale. Read descriptions carefully. If an item has “mass-produced” in its description, it’s not an original or exclusive piece. You can easily shop around online for cheaper alternatives if you want to avoid paying the brand’s marked-up price.

Mass-Produced Japanese Fashion: Why It’s Not Always a Bad Thing

There’s nothing inherently wrong with mass-produced fashion. In fact, it’s often what makes alternative and plus-size J-Fashion more affordable and accessible. The key is simply knowing what you’re buying, so you can decide whether paying extra for a branded item is worth it.