Cocochic - Japanese Plus Size Brand That Does Sizing Differently
Japanese plus size brand Chocochic makes clothing tailored for real plus-size bodies. Their sizing system doesn't follow the traditional methods of clothes sizing. They base their design measurements on real bodies - where weight is stored, and what body measurements actually change from size to size. Unlike other brands where larger sizes assume wearers are also very tall, Cocochic designs keep their measurements balanced. Additionally, their designs are particularly aimed at average-height and petite shoppers who are also plus size.
According to the Cocochic website, "Medium size is the standard, and as the size increases, the height becomes taller, the shoulders become broader, the sleeves become longer, and the collar becomes larger." What makes this brand's designs different is how they adjust the sizing: "Depending on the size, the thicker parts of the body are adjusted, but the expected height, shoulder width, sleeve length, and collar circumference remain unchanged."
For example, generally when you're shopping plus size, the larger the size, the longer the garment. You could find the dress in a 3L that's a little too small around the waist- but when you size up to a 4L, the sleeve length is suddenly longer and the dress is dragging on the floor. If you want the dress you must choose between the two, and neither is what you want. Cocochic size up differently. Their selling point is that their clothes are tailored with real bodies in mind - Just because someone wears a larger size doesn't mean that they're tall or that their arms are suddenly longer. The result is well-fitted clothing that looks like it was tailored just for you - no need to roll up your sleeves or wear heels just to keep items off the floor!
Because the brand uses different sizing standards, they have unique size labels for their clothes. To help understand what size range you may be in they created a chart comparing their sizes to the sizing system of Uniqlo, a popular fashion brand in Japan.
They have three plus size labels: T10, T20, and T30. T10 is the rough equivalent of clothes sizes LL-3L. T20 is similar to 4L-5L. T30, is comparable to 6L-7L.
For more information about their size system, visit their website: https://cocochic.jp/pages/size
Because this brand does have a unique size system and labels, shoppers should take extra care to read each garment's sizing label. Since how items are sized may be different from what shoppers expect, some measurements may be quite different from what you're used to.
About Cocochic Clothing & Where to Shop
Cocochic is an online store that ships within Japan (they do not ship internationally).
Their clothing designs lean more towards casual and everyday wear, with a few formal pieces. Organized by size or category, you'll find t-shirts, blouses, pants, skirts, outerwear and dresses. As for the clothing designs themselves, they're on par with what's currently trending and staple pieces. There is a lot of blacks, whites, beige and powder blues - it's easy to mix and match all of their items. One could easily create a fashionable capsule wardrobe filled only with Cocochic items.Because the items have had extra attention to sizing details, the prices are higher than similar pieces from fast-fashion brands like H&M Japan and Uniqlo that offer some plus size options. However, when compared to other Japanese plus-size indie brands, the prices are average.
To help new customers understand how Cocochics clothing is sized, they give you a free t-shirt with your first purchase that you can use as a reference for future purchases.
