Lolita has repeatedly spawned hits with sales exceeding 10 million, and the "three subcultural niches" are making a strong comeback.
Lullaby Lullaby, Antique Doll Wall Series
In the current situation where the clothing industry is struggling with inventory clearance and people's desire to buy new clothes is overshadowed by their appetite for food, a market once regarded as a niche sub - culture has continuously produced hit products and reached the billion - yuan level.
The joint series of the Lolita clothing brand "Flowers and Pearl Boxes" with "The Legend of Zhen Huan" was restocked, and more than 220,000 pieces were sold.
The antique doll wall series of the original Lolita store "Lullaby Lullaby" was restocked. Five color schemes were pre - sold for 24 hours, and more than 200,000 pieces were sold on the same day.
Based on the product price, the total sales of a single series are estimated to reach the billion - yuan level. Although considering the subsequent refund situation, the actual amount may vary, it still shocks outsiders.
The so - called Lolita is an imported clothing culture characterized by classical Western dresses and fairy - tale aesthetics. It is very popular among young people in China and was once ridiculed as one of the "Three Bankrupt Sisters", along with Hanfu and JK uniforms, known as the "Three Pits".
Early merchants mainly originated from Taobao stores and then broke through the circle around 2021. In the following years, Hanfu expanded its circle vigorously, creating a scene of "ladies everywhere in scenic spots", while the JK uniform market was reshuffled, and there were news of well - known Lolita stores closing. The media also rarely mentioned the "Three Pits" again.
However, just when many people thought the Lolita craze had subsided, the market once again showed amazing potential.
According to incomplete statistics from PlayerEra, from January to May this year, there have been more than 40 Lolita series with sales of over 10,000 pieces, showing an overall improvement.
According to Taotian data, the "Three Pits" track has been growing at a high speed for three consecutive years; the transaction scale in 2025 increased by more than 50% year - on - year, and the number of transaction participants nearly doubled. During the first stage of Tmall's 618 this year, the transaction volume of the "Three Pits" track increased by nearly 100% compared with last year, and 620 brands doubled their sales.
Classic Restocks, More Sales, More Hits
The return of classic series is an obvious feature of this year's hot - selling trend.
Based on the views of industry insiders, "originality" is the primary principle for hot sales in the Lolita circle. Classic styles, with their iconic design concepts, often have word - of - mouth and value recognition in the circle, allowing them to stand the test of time.
For example, the joint series of the aforementioned hit "Flowers and Pearl Boxes" with "The Legend of Zhen Huan" was first launched in 2025 and is on sale for the second time this year. The Laura Doll series designed by Big Bear Lolita was restocked. In less than a minute after the sale started, the planned 10,000 pieces were increased to 70,000 pieces but still sold out.
This forms a sharp contrast with the traditional clothing industry.
In the mass ready - to - wear market, a product usually follows the life cycle of "new launch - hot sale - season change - off the shelf". Clothing enterprises need to continuously produce fashion trends and iterate quickly in spring - summer and autumn - winter cycles. Fast - fashion can even compress this cycle to a few weeks.
However, a successful Lolita series often has a life cycle of several years. Moreover, as time goes by, sales even show an increasing trend.
The "Antique Doll Wall" series of Lullaby Lullaby can be traced back to the end of 2021, with a first - launch sales volume of about 3,000 + pieces; in 2023, the restocked sales volume was nearly 20,000 pieces; in 2026, for the third restock, the pre - order deposit orders have exceeded 200,000 pieces. It is understood that this series adopted the "time - limited but unlimited quantity" model for the first time this year. Many people were afraid of missing the hot style and placed orders, further boosting the sales volume.
Xia Ye, the founder of Lullaby Lullaby, pointed out that this is not a deliberately designed business operation strategy. Whether a series is restocked depends more on the voices of consumers. For the Lolita market, the core factor that truly determines the product's vitality is whether the work itself can gain long - term recognition from the circle.
Lullaby Lullaby, Antique Doll Wall Series
The brand name "Lullaby" is a distillation of the image of "a girl's fairy - tale dream". Based on this, the founder conceived a story world of an antique doll shop and introduced many innovative creative concepts. For example, the original "antique doll promotional newspaper" was used as the core visual element of the dress; inspiration was drawn from the antique doll's shape, and design languages such as doll sales labels and flower - bud waist knots were incorporated, and the low - waist contour design was tried for the first time. This was not the mainstream in the market at that time, but it gradually accumulated word - of - mouth due to its distinctiveness.
In a sense, a Lolita dress is more like a "work" rather than just a "pretty dress".
Counter - intuitively, Lolita dresses not only "have names" but also have a story world view and settings; all fabrics and accessories are customized to serve the creative theme. What consumers buy is not only the design itself but also the aesthetic expression, emotional satisfaction, and circle identity attached to it. This makes its consumption logic closer to "work collection" rather than "fashion consumption".
Just as classic records are repeatedly listened to by generations of music fans, classic Lolita works will also continue to spread in the circle. Old users replenish their collections, and new users pursue classics, ultimately forming the unique phenomenon that classic styles become more and more popular, and restocked sales continue to be hot.
Fashion has a cycle, but works last forever. This is why Lolita can break through the cycle limitations of the clothing industry.
More Than "Pretty Dresses", the Lolita Circle is Growing Its Own "LABUBU"
It is worth emphasizing that buying a dress is not the end of consumption but the beginning of entering a certain aesthetic system.
More and more Lolita merchants are starting to develop derivative product lines based on dressing scenarios and home and travel scenarios, from peripheral products such as bags, plush toys, wigs, shoes, and accessories to home soft furnishings and textile products. "Merchants develop whatever consumers need", and diversified product development has become a new growth point.
Especially Lolita doll bags have changed from optional accessories to standard items in the circle. During the first wave of Tmall's 618, the transaction volume of related categories increased by 1.5 times year - on - year.
The "Momo Rabbit" under the Lolita brand Midsummer Story (belonging to Zaiyi Xinghui) was first launched in 2021. In early 2025, the sales of the Momo Rabbit doll bag quickly exceeded 100,000 pieces; currently, the sales of the Strawberry Angel series in the on - sale series have reached more than 80,000 pieces.
This doll character is independently operated under the sub - brand Momo Story: continuous illustrations and emoticons are launched; joint series are launched with Luo Xiaohei, Labyrinth Restaurant, and the popular illustration IP Mikko; the brand conducts cross - border cooperation, covering multiple fields such as home, life, collectibles, and snacks. Each joint - venture product is basically in stock and sells quickly, and the user circle has expanded from Lolita fans to general enthusiasts.
This path is not unfamiliar. It is similar to POP MART's LABUBU and the Sanrio family. Through the development and commercial operation of character IPs, it grows into an independently developed IP brand. In addition to Momo Rabbit, the brand has also introduced multiple characters to form the Momo family.
@Mochi Roll
Some insiders in the circle pointed out that the Momo Rabbit is set to be cute and likable; the doll bag costs about 200 yuan, and the pendant costs dozens of yuan, which is affordable; coupled with the brand's leading effect, the "doll bag + Lolita dress" new product launch is bundled, and the self - owned channels are covered, creating a sense of standardization. It can almost be said to have become the national style of the "must - have doll bag for Lolita girls".
The more "hard - currency" - like rabbit bear (Usakumya) comes from the leading Japanese sweet - style Lolita brand BABY, THE STARS SHINE BRIGHT. In the early years, the rabbit bear was just a doll sold exclusively in the brand's stores. Later, the doll bag form was launched, laying the foundation for the category attribute. In more than twenty years of evolution, the rabbit bear has been deeply bound to the brand icon, appeared on fashion magazines many times, and now has transcended the commodity dimension and become a cultural symbol recognized by Lolita lovers around the world.
@Please Have Panpan Biscuits
In China, the secondary - market price of the large - size rabbit bear has risen from 1,000 yuan to 7,000 yuan. A fixed trading category has been formed on Xianyu, and there are even specialized second - hand Japanese agents, following the collection logic of Steiff antique teddy bears. In the circle, owning a rabbit bear is equivalent to having social capital.
When talking about Lolita today, it has gone beyond the scope of a certain specific aesthetic clothing and penetrated into the lifestyle, continuously expanding the business territory.
After the "Three Pits" Broke Through the Circle, Domestic Merchants are Growing in the "Competition"
Since the "Anime Merchandise Economy" became popular in 2024, the business forms of anime - related consumption have undergone fission. Supported by a high - base of more than 500 million general anime - loving population, emotional consumption demand has dominated the market for young consumers. The "Three Pits" track has also benefited from this.
Xia Ye, the founder of Lullaby Lullaby, mentioned that the continuous expansion of the general anime culture to the offline circle has brought new growth space for Lolita.
"Events such as comic conventions, shopping mall pop - ups, and cosplay activities have entered the lives of young people. The Lolita culture, which is highly related to them, has further integrated into daily life. The social acceptance is increasing, and the wearing threshold is decreasing..." "Combined with the high growth of emotional consumption and self - pleasing consumption demand, Lolita is gradually transforming from 'circle - specific dressing' to 'daily consumption choice'."
The Lolita consumer group is evolving into a mature consumer group that pursues aesthetic expression, cultural experience, and self - pleasure.
According to Taotian data: the "Three Pits" consumer circle has expanded from first - and second - tier cities to emerging cities and counties; the 18 - 24 - year - old young group is the basic market, and the proportion of 25 - 35 - year - old working - class consumers has increased significantly.
Taotian, the main sales platform for the "Three Pits" in China, has separated the "Three Pits" from women's clothing and made it a core growth category.
In the view of practitioners, Chinese Lolita merchants have grown up in the "competition". They compete in design, craftsmanship, concepts, and original ability.
In 2020, the overall scale of the "Three Pits" clothing market exceeded 20 billion yuan. Combined with the new consumption wave and the entry of capital, the "Three Pits" moved from online Taobao to offline physical stores on a large scale, entering the public view and officially ushering in the moment of breaking through the circle. However, at that time, the foreshadowing for market adjustment was also laid. A large number of follow - up miscellaneous brands and small workshops used pre - sales to collect money, resulting in over - capacity, rampant counterfeiting, and serious homogenization.
In the following years, a large number of "bad coins" were eliminated by the market, and the brands that truly remained established their own recognition and barriers through original design.
"Chinese - style" is what Chinese merchants have developed through competition. This style integrates Chinese cultural elements such as Hanfu and Chinese - style patterns into the Lolita Western dress system. While retaining classic features such as tutus, lace, and bows, it forms a unique Chinese aesthetic expression.
With its unique cultural connotation, the Chinese - style has gradually grown into one of the most representative sub - directions in the Lolita market. The topic of "Chinese - style Lolita" on Xiaohongshu has been viewed 180 million times.
Now, the Lolita market has formed a variety of style systems, with the sweet style as the mainstream, and also including classical, Gothic, Chinese - style and other diversified sub - style systems. The differentiated original ecosystem, mature circle economy, and cross - industry linkage continue to drive the market upward.
Leading brands continuously expand their scale through high - frequency new product launches. Small and medium - sized original studios start businesses in a lightweight way, and annual sales of tens of millions have become the norm in the industry. For new product launches, Taotian's "Three Pits" industry provides brand - specific design solutions, based on a dual - wheel operation model of three key new product launch nodes (618, Double 11, and Spring Festival) + regular restocks of classic styles. Whether it is cost - effectiveness or high - end positioning, merchants can find their own comfort zones.
According to the 618 data, among the merchants on the Taotian platform with a transaction volume of over one million, one - quarter are newly opened stores this year, and 19 merchants have increased their sales by more than 1000% year - on - year.
Now, based on their respective cultural contexts, the "Three Pits" have taken different development paths.
Hanfu focuses on traditional culture, breaks through gender barriers and age coverage through ancient - style experiences and cultural tourism scenarios, and moves