140,000 pieces sold out in 3 minutes, the "Three Sisters of Bankruptcy" have once again launched a 10 million-level hit product, and merchants are running their sewing machines nonstop until they overheat.

"140,000 orders flooded in within 3 minutes!" Xia Ye, the person in charge of the Lolita clothing brand "Lullaby", clearly remembers the scene when the "Antique Doll Wall" skirt was launched in the store. "I was completely stunned when I saw the orders."

Lullaby is not the only brand that experienced a surge in orders. Another Chinese-style clothing brand "Chunhe" revealed that its sales in the first phase of the 618 promotion exceeded one million yuan.

According to data from Taobao and Tmall, during the 618 promotion, the sales of the "Three Pit" clothing category increased by nearly 100% year-on-year, and the number of merchants with sales exceeding ten million yuan increased by 150% year-on-year. Among them, in the first phase of the 618 promotion, nearly a quarter of the merchants with sales exceeding one million yuan were newly opened stores this year, and 19 merchants saw a year-on-year increase of more than 1000%.

The "Three Pit" clothing (Lolita clothing, Chinese-style clothing, and JK/DK uniforms), which was once considered to have reached the peak of popularity by the outside world, has once again confirmed its status as the "top in the circle" with this set of explosive data.

Sales situation of the Lolita industry during the 618 promotion. Image source: Taotian

The "Three Pit" clothing refers to three major characteristic clothing categories represented by Lolita clothing, Chinese-style clothing, and JK/DK uniforms. Due to the high technical threshold and aesthetic premium of the products, a set of gorgeous dresses can easily cost thousands of yuan. Based on personalized aesthetics and cultural identity, once consumers "fall into the pit", they will form a strong consumption inertia and a sense of belonging to the circle, changing from single-item purchases to long-term followers and buyers of the brand. Therefore, it is jokingly called the "Three Sisters of Bankruptcy" by players.

Around 2009 - 2010, the niche circle of the "Three Pit" clothing in China began to emerge. At that time, people in the circle mainly relied on overseas shopping and purchasing agents to buy expensive Japanese brand clothing, or conducted small-scale transactions in the form of personal studios on Taobao. From 2019 to 2021, as the Z generation gradually became the main consumer force, the pan - two-dimensional culture rose, and with a large amount of exposure on short - video platforms, the "Three Pit" culture quickly became popular outside the circle, attracting a large number of original merchants and players. Up to now, the "Three Pit" industry has a dedicated category on e - commerce platforms and has received key attention.

Tianxia Wangshang learned that currently, the "Three Pit" clothing is showing a trend of polarization: on the one hand, the clothing is becoming more and more delicate, gorgeous, and elaborate, and the high - end custom - made styles with a "collectible sense" are still the core barrier of the circle; on the other hand, some "Three Pit" clothing is developing towards daily wear. The simple - cut styles have been integrated into the daily life scenarios of players going to work and shopping, which also accelerates the industry's expansion beyond the circle.

Many industry insiders believe that with the deepening of the trend of daily wear and the normalization of IP co - branding, there is still more room for growth in the industry. From the once - niche circle to the current delicate daily life, the pure "love" of this generation of young people is supporting a new consumer market worth hundreds of billions of yuan that cannot be underestimated.

A skirt sold 200,000 pieces in 24 hours

Selling over 200,000 pieces in 24 hours and having orders lined up for two years later - this is the first report card of the "Antique Doll Wall" during the 618 promotion.

This skirt is not a new product. It was designed by the brand's person in charge Xia Ye in 2021 and launched for sale in 2022. "Each skirt I design has a complete theme story and aesthetic system. It's not just a simple combination of bows, hearts, and strawberries."

It is reported that the skirt takes an antique doll shop as the core of the story. The low - waisted silhouette gradually accumulated a good reputation in the market environment where the mainstream aesthetic preference at that time was high - waisted, slimming, and printed styles. The "doll promotion newspaper" in the front - chest accessories is original in both pattern and every text content. For this reason, the "Antique Doll Wall" has a strong sense of recognition and collection value in terms of design and culture with its unique antique style and delicate detailed craftsmanship.

This is completely opposite to the logic of the fast - fashion market. Traditional fast - fashion clothing follows a short - cycle of "new arrival - hot sale - season change - off the shelf", while the life cycle of a successful Lolita series is often calculated in years, and there is even the abnormal phenomenon that the older styles sell better when re - released. This is also an important reason why the "Antique Doll Wall" can still sell well after multiple re - releases.

In addition to classic styles, IP co - branded clothing was also very popular this year. During the 618 promotion, the co - branded clothing of the Lolita brand "Flower and Pearl Box" and "Empresses in the Palace" sold over 200,000 pieces.

The co - branded skirt of Flower and Pearl Box and "Empresses in the Palace". Image source: Flower and Pearl Box

"This year, we broke the traditional model of promotion through bloggers' recommendations. We launched an offline real - life try - on event for a hundred people, inviting real users of different body shapes and styles to experience the new products in advance and share real - shot photos. This achieved a real and diverse promotion, allowing consumers to directly see the suitability and greatly reducing their concerns about buying." said the person in charge of Flower and Pearl Box.

A dark horse also emerged in the Chinese - style clothing category. The "Tang - style 24 - paneled high - waisted skirt" of the Chinese - style clothing brand "Chunhe" sold over a thousand pieces during the 618 promotion, and its sales in the first phase of the promotion exceeded one million yuan.

It is worth noting that the products of Chunhe have a very long sales cycle. For example, the "Spring Scenery on the Willow" series of Tang - style Hanfu launched by the brand in 2024 sold nearly 20,000 pieces as soon as it was launched and is still a best - selling item.

"We follow a light - restoration route, making improvements that meet the daily needs of modern people on the basis of respecting the traditional cultural forms." said Shiyin, the person in charge of Chunhe. This design that combines good photo - taking effects and daily wearability is the key to the Chinese - style clothing's expansion beyond the circle.

The core reason why the "Three Pit" industry has maintained its vitality for more than a decade is that the circle users have a high degree of love and long - term stickiness. This consumption based on cultural identity not only brings a stable repurchase rate but also gives rise to a spontaneous spread effect.

At the same time, the population structure of the "Three Pit" circle is undergoing a generational shift. The industry staff of Taotian observed that many core players "fell into the pit" during their student days. Now, after starting a family, they will wear Lolita or Chinese - style clothing with their children, passing on this aesthetic preference to the next generation and buying "Three Pit" clothing for their children. This generational inheritance is continuously expanding the industry's consumer base.

The "Three Sisters of Bankruptcy" Support a Hard - Core Industrial Chain

The fulfillment process of each beautifully designed and elaborately accessorized Lolita skirt or Tang - style Hanfu, from the front - end order placement to the final delivery, relies on the highly vertical and closely linked complete industrial chain behind it.

The upstream source of the "Three Pit" industrial chain often starts from the extreme love of players.

Xia Ye is a senior Lolita enthusiast. She graduated from the fashion design major of the China Academy of Art. "The antique dolls in the 'Antique Doll Wall' first appeared in the series of antique doll products, which was my graduation project. At that time, the teacher didn't quite recognize Lolita clothing, but I think there shouldn't be only one popular aesthetic that holds the fashion discourse power in the world. Style cannot be used as a standard to judge high - end or low - end." After graduation, she opened a studio and devoted herself to Lolita clothing. She has been in business for 10 years.

The "Antique Doll Wall" Lolita skirt of Lullaby. Image source: Lullaby

This phenomenon of "players turning into bosses" is common in the industry. Since the brand managers themselves are senior players, their designs from the first - person perspective can better meet the core needs of consumers. This is also an important reason why "Three Pit" brands can always accurately hit the circle's aesthetics and trigger emotional resonance.

The mid - stream production end is the most core and "heavy" part of the "Three Pit" industrial chain. Due to the generally complex craftsmanship of Lolita and Hanfu, with a lot of lace, accessories, and elaborate embroidery, they cannot be directly produced on a standardized assembly line like T - shirts. This non - standard attribute has led to most traditional clothing factories being reluctant to take orders.

In the early days of her entrepreneurship, Xia Ye had no factory resources, so she could only search for "clothing factories" on the map and visit them one by one. Ten years ago, domestic factories were unfamiliar and resistant to Lolita clothing with complex lace, multiple folds, and special silhouettes. "It's too complicated and the requirements are too high. We can't do it," most factories refused straightforwardly.

But Xia Ye didn't give up. After persistent inspections and communications, she finally found a factory willing to accept the challenge of complex craftsmanship and took the first step in her entrepreneurship. To ensure the quality, she rented a house near the factory and stayed in the workshop every day to supervise and communicate the relevant details at any time.

"This year, we comprehensively upgraded our supply chain system, saying goodbye to the early scattered cooperation model and upgrading to a large - scale, standardized cooperation system. The factories we cooperate with now have a higher level of craftsmanship, and modern management standards have been introduced in the production process to ensure a stable output of high - quality products. We hope that every girl who wears Lolita clothing can truly feel happy." Xia Ye said.

Flower and Pearl Box also relies on large - scale factories and has deeply bound several exclusive accessory cooperation factories, and has established a complete closed - loop from design and sample - making, fabric and accessory production to ready - made clothing production. This full - link production system can effectively meet the needs of new product launches, large - scale order surges, and high - frequency re - releases, and is also the core reason for its leading position in the industry in terms of delivery speed, re - release efficiency, and quality control stability.

In contrast, Chunhe has explored a differentiated path of "self - built factory + external cooperation". Shiyin said that Chunhe ensures the stable delivery of the core forms and quality through its self - built factory and a fixed team of workers, and can generally produce 10,000 pieces of products within 5 days. When facing explosive orders like those during the 618 promotion, Chunhe undertakes the excess production capacity through long - term strategic cooperation with external factories.

At the sales end of the industrial chain, brands mainly rely on content platforms such as Xiaohongshu and Weibo for promotion and use content to drive transactions on the platform.

In response to the common long - term pre - sale situation in this industry, the platform has also provided corresponding solutions. For example, Taobao has specially developed a deposit - final - payment matching tool. A popular product link is split into dozens of SKUs to match the complex combinations of 5 color schemes, 7 sizes, and 3 skirt lengths of Lolita clothing. The deposit and the final payment are automatically associated, reducing the probability of consumers making mistakes when paying the final payment.

In addition, the Taobao platform also outputs monthly trend reports to provide data support for merchants and helps connect with IP resources such as "Empresses in the Palace" and "Sanrio". It is worth mentioning that the platform has also written practical guides covering topics such as "how to prevent online fraud" and "how to avoid financial and personnel risks for start - up enterprises" to help merchants avoid detours.

Now, the industrial chain of the "Three Pit" industry has become relatively mature, and this niche circle has the infrastructure to grow into a business worth hundreds of billions of yuan.

Polarization: Gorgeous Styles Lay the Foundation, Daily - Wear Styles Expand Beyond the Circle

Data from Taobao and Tmall shows that the "Three Pit" industry has been growing at a high speed for three consecutive years. In 2025, the transaction volume increased by more than 50% year - on - year, and the number of transaction participants nearly doubled. According to the analysis report of Guotai Junan Securities, the market size of the "Three Pit" industry exceeded 120 billion yuan in 2025.

Behind the explosive growth of the industry, there is also a more certain trend signal: the market is accelerating towards polarization. One end is the pursuit of extremely gorgeous and elaborate high - end custom - made styles, and the other end is the daily - wear improvement that caters to the public's aesthetics.

The Tang - style Caivei spaghetti - strap dress in the Return to the Idyllic Life series of Chunhe is a typical example of daily - wear improvement. On the basis of retaining the traditional Hanfu form, this series innovatively adds shoulder - strap design and elastic gathering design, solving the pain points of consumers such as "easy to fall off, uncomfortable to wear, and worried about exposure" of high - waisted skirts. The designer revealed that they often consult consumers' opinions and ideas during the design preview stage and make adjustments according to consumers' needs.

The Tang - style Caivei spaghetti - strap dress. Image source: Chunhe

The person in charge of Flower and Pearl Box also found that the "daily - wear trend" of Lolita is not simply turning into ordinary dresses but is reflected in two dimensions. One is the restraint and simplicity in the silhouette, represented by Light Lolita and Classic Lolita, which feature a vintage and elegant style and can be easily worn to school or work. The other is that the dressing concept is becoming more casual and relaxed. In the early days, people paid attention to a full set of accessories and delicate makeup when going out, but now wearing a JSK (Jumper Skirt) alone can be enough to go out on the street, which has become the daily choice of the new generation of consumers.

"As an industry insider deeply involved in this circle, I am very optimistic about this change. Lolita is no longer limited to special occasions such as outings and tea parties, and hobbies can be smoothly integrated into daily life." said the person in charge of Flower and Pearl Box.

However, the daily - wear trend does not mean the decline of gorgeous styles. On the contrary, styles with elaborate craftsmanship such as embroidery, brocade weaving, and seed - stitch embroidery still have a stable and loyal audience. Many industry insiders believe that the more complex and elaborate the styles are, the more they can help merchants get rid of price competition, because for