140 Times Bodyline Made Knockoffs and Replicas of Other J-Fashion Brands

Bodyline has a shady history of stealing designs from other Japanese lolita, goth, and punk brands. Although the company is under new ownership and they don’t copy designs much anymore, this list serves as a reference to anyone who encounters some of these older pieces in the secondhand market.

About Bodyline

Bodyline is a Japanese clothing brand started in 2002. In the early years, they mainly operated as a lingerie and cosplay shop. Eventually, they started making lolita clothes of questionable quality and origin. Around 2018, the original owner Mr. Yan left the company and a new ownership took over. They currently have two physical locations open in Japan, one in Tokyo and one in Osaka.

Bodyline and the Western Lolita Community

Back when Western interest in lolita fashion started growing, Bodyline was a shop commonly suggested to buy from because it was cheap and they sometimes made semi-decent clothes and shoes. It was extremely popular with newcomers because it was one of the only cheaper options at the time. In the LiveJournal era, buying their products was always a gamble and there were even a community dedicated for reviews. There was almost no information on the company itself. Nowadays, there are better options for the same price, but the brand still gets suggested often enough to newbies.

The community stance on Bodyline has never been unanimous. Many Japanese lolitas do not support Bodyline since it was essentially a sex shop trying to sell lolita. Many international lolitas considered it bad quality. Some never supported the business at all because of the replicas.

While wearing Bodyline isn’t inherently immoral since they do make original designs sometimes, the lolita community must acknowledge that Bodyline made some shady business practices in the past. These practices include stealing designs from other brands, hosting model contests guised as the ex-owner’s wife search, and serving bad customer service.

What are knockoffs?

A design knockoff is an imitation product that is distinct from the genuine product. At minimum, distinction may be a single element changed from the of the original design. Knockoffs fall into in a morally grey area. By law, clothes can not be copyrighted because they are utilitarian products. While knockoff products such as shoes and bags are technically legal, a stolen design is still theft.

What are replicas?

A design replica is an imitation product that is confusingly similar to the genuine product. Replicas usually include parts of the original intellectual property such as the logo or artwork.

Why replicas are shunned in the lolita community:

Replicas steal from the original artists
Replica sellers are deceiving buyers
Replicas are often of subpar quality compared to the original

While Bodyline never claimed their products to be from the original brands, the term replica has conflicting definitions throughout different fashion circles. This is the definition used commonly in lolita fashion. In lolita, there is a split in what’s acceptable between print replicas and solid replicas. Read more about it on Raine Dragon’s The Complicated Ethics of Design Replicas.

List of Bodyline Replicas and Knockoffs

This list serves as a reference for buyers in case they may be unaware of design theft. On the left side will be the real product. On the right side will be the Bodyline equivalent. The list is sorted by the original brand in alphabetical order.

A+Lidel

ALGONQUINS

ALGONQUINS ADDICTION Striped Jacket	Bodyline Belt Accent Jacket (gothic588)
Photo: Closet Child

Alice and the Pirates

Angelic Pretty

Atelier BOZ

Baby, the Stars Shine Bright

BLACK PEACE NOW/PEACE NOW

Deorart

EXCENTRIQUE

h.NAOTO

HELLCAT PUNKS

Innocent World

MAD

MARBLE

Mary Magdalene

MAXICIMAM

Metamorphose temps de Fille

Moi-meme-Moitie

Morning LST

Putumayo

Romantic Neurosis

SEX POT ReVeNGe

Victorian Maiden

Note: The Stand Collar Dress design was submitted into their design contest, so technically Bodyline didn’t steal it themselves, but they still produced it.

How many were you able to recognize? For me I was quite surprised at a lot of the goth and punk knockoffs since those brands typically aren’t documented on Lolibrary. Some of these brands almost closed like ALGONQUINS, Victorian Maiden. Some of these brands are already gone like Atelier BOZ.

Luxury brand, like Gucci or Louis Vuitton, goods are replicated all the time, but since they are million or billion dollar companies, they have the resources to do something about counterfeits. In the lolita fashion sphere, the impact of replicas is much larger since lolita brands are usually very small businesses.

As mentioned earlier, this post is for archival purposes. Bodyline’s new ownership seems to be moving in a better direction by focusing on producing original designs and not blatantly copying designs. The most recent print replica incident was this Sweet Time Kitty Dress released in 2020. The fabric used in the Bodyline dress was replica fabric copied from the original fabric maker Ringo Fabric and Fashion. Bodyline pulled the product from the webshp in 2021.

Submit an Item

If you have an example of knockoff items not yet on the list, please contact me or leave a comment with any information on the piece and I will update the post.

References: Lolita Kensho, Lolibrary, Lolita History

2 thoughts on “140 Times Bodyline Made Knockoffs and Replicas of Other J-Fashion Brands”

slimmmeiske2

August 25, 2023 at 4:42 AM

This 2021 Bodyline release (https://lolibrary.org/items/bodyline-sailor-tucked-op-with-belt) immediately set off Metamorphose vibes: https://lolibrary.org/items/meta-sailor-tuck-op-2019 and https://lolibrary.org/items/meta-belt-like-designed-sailor-tucked-dress came to mind.
Dif

September 19, 2021 at 5:32 AM

Bodyline L479 https://lolibrary.org/items/bodyline-persia-osman-op-l479 is a pretty obvious knockoff of Floral Velveteen Birdcage JSK by Angelic Pretty https://lolibrary.org/items/ap-floral-velveteen-birdcage-jsk-2003-xmas-special-reservation