Neo-Moitié: What Does the Future Hold for Moi-même-Moitié?

Note: I wrote the bulk of this piece in late 2018 but never published the post, so I've gone back and revised some of my opinions as my feelings have definitely changed over the past 3 years. Brace yourselves, it's a long one...

Back in 2017, Tanaqro, the parent company of Wunderwelt, announced that it had acquired Moi-même-Moitié and spared it from the slow, quiet death that has claimed so many Japanese gothic and lolita brands in the past few years; Putumayo and Black Peace Now have already closed, with Mary Magdalene possibly on the chopping block. h.Naoto closed all of its physical stores in Japan. Big shifts in the lolita market and retail in general were putting pressure on these brands, but the pandemic has only accelerated the rate of decline. I expect to see at least a few more brands go out of business or start to wind things down within the next few years. And with so many established lolita brands closing their doors, I'm grateful that Moitié is still with us, even though I'm still a bit unsure about the direction they're taking.

As someone who got into lolita fashion purely because of an interest in goth, Japan, and Mana, I have really mixed feelings about the brand post-acquisition, but a lot of hope, too. These are my honest thoughts and feelings about what I like to call "Neo-Moitié" and the future of the brand.

Artistic Direction & Design

It's hard to deny that Moitié has taken a new stylistic direction since the acquisition, and not necessarily for the better. Most older Moitié designs were fairly simplistic and relied on beautiful fabrics and elaborate trims for decoration. As the brand matured and lolita fashion trends changed, they stayed true to their sleek aesthetic while integrating new trends like ornate border prints and custom lace. Most of their catalogue was quite gothic, but they had a fair number of releases that were sort of a darker, more gothic take on classic, too. Or straight-up classic pieces that could easily be styled to look more gothic. 

Neo-Moitié has revived that elegant, simplistic gothic (with a hint of classic) aesthetic from the early period of the brand, to varying degrees of success. Don't get me wrong - I love the understated elegance of early Moitié! I missed seeing the cardigans, aprons, blazers, and bustiers that they used to produce regularly, and it's nice to see some of those classic pieces making a comeback. But their new take on these old staples just seems a little...bland? Uninspired? It just doesn't do anything for me.

One example of this lack of thoughtfulness is the complete lack of variety in cuts. Moitié has released an awful lot of dresses with more-or-less the exact same cuts: the babydoll with an elasticated waist and ribbon tie. I lovingly refer to it as the "tits in a bag" cut because no matter what size your bust is, they look like they're just hanging out in a ruched bag. It's easy to work with, somewhat forgiving of different body sizes, and looks okay on everyone (but not particularly good on anyone, either) so I can see why they keep using it...but it comes off as so lazy.

I really miss the more tailored cuts that we used to see more frequently. And if size-inclusivity is a problem with those cuts...why not just add shirring in a flattering way? For example, the bustier cut of Divine Cross can accommodate both large and small bust sizes while maintaining a lovely silhouette. A long time ago, Moitié released certain items in multiple sizes. Some of the newer items are available in two sizes: size 9 and size 13. While I feel like the size range is still lacking, I appreciate the move back towards more inclusivity and more comfortable pieces.

In the same vein, Moitié has joined other brands like brands like Innocent World White, Physical Drop, and Vallée Lys; they seem to be aware that their customer base is getting older, and have slowly introduced more comfortable, nature, casual items designed for everyday wear. We've seen several releases of gloves, scarves, berets, cardigans, cutsew dresses, and other practical pieces that are suitable for daily wear. We've also seen lots of filler lifestyle goods like pillows, dishware, decorations, and other housewares.

There's also the question of the designer. I remember a few years before the Tanaqro acquisition, Moitié was looking to hire a new designer. Anyway, the job posting is long gone, but I'm curious to know how it turned out - most of the new designs aren't very ambitious or interesting and amount to lesser rehashes of things we've already seen. I also wonder how much input, if any, Mana has with regards to the artistic direction of the brand. While Mana obviously didn't directly create many Moitié pieces himself, my understanding is that it was always very much his baby, and he had final say over the overall aesthetic and feel of Moitié. It might be like one of those celebrity department store lines where the name and face of the celebrity are licensed out to sell generic clothing that the celebrity had no hand in designing. I know that every single brand has low-effort items where a brand logo or charm is added to a plain, generic item and sold at a premium - but that doesn't mean I have to like it. 

Really?

Regardless of the reasons, the bottom line is this: Neo-Moitié has moved away from the mid-2000s to early 2010s Moitié aesthetic that we know and love, and it's had a very mixed reception. I polled a few Moitié fans, both newcomers and old heads, to see how they felt about it. I've quoted them below:

"I'm happy they seem to be releasing stuff regularly, but I wish it was less phoned in. Like oh boy another blouse with Moitié lace on the cuffs. Like can we release some mains with some actual cool design aesthetic? It'd be cool if they could rerelease some older prints too, but I understand that may be complicated."

"I’m glad that an iconic brand, especially a gothic one, got picked up again but I feel that they’re just riding the cult wave. I don’t think anything they released recently has been very original or has progressed the brand. I feel like they’re stuck trying to be a success with their old releases in fear that if they try anything new it won’t be well received. I’ve heard a lot of complaints with their quality too. Particularly with their metal pieces, but I wasn’t impressed with the Silent Moon rerelease either."

"Sometimes it feels like Moitié is more of a home goods/accessories brand now instead of a clothing brand."

"The reality for me that the direction of the brand prior to Tanaqro was pretty bleak. From 2014-2017 they didn't make anything that appealed to me, and frankly, still haven't. The few items I bought in that time were pretty disappointing. With respect to Tanaqro's acquisition - they've made it obvious that they've pivoted further from me (i.e. old Moitié owner) in terms of their preferred market."

"I'm sad because now that I have the money for Moitié I'm not as in love with the brand as I used to be. I don't find their new releases very inspirational if that makes sense? Esp for being such an iconic brand."

Most of these quotes were taken from 2018 - well before I finished writing this up. At the time, I agreed, but I was still feeling quite optimistic. Now that I've seen more releases, I'm a little bit more skeptical. Some of their more recent releases look like more of a return to form, though. We're seeing a return of tailored cuts instead of the babydoll dresses, detailed jewellery, and unique accessories. Some examples...

Coffin Lace JSK in the long cut. Combined with the mob cap, I could probably do an all-Moitié Touhou cosplay.

 
The Coffin Lace JSK features the  tailored square-neck JSK cut that was used for iconic releases like Gothic Arch JSK and Silent Moon JSK, as well as custom coffin tulle lace. People were really excited to see this flattering cut returning, and even more excited to see that it's available in both size 9 and size 13. It's been re-released and a long cut and new colourways have been added. I think the price is a little bit high for such a simple item - it seems a decent amount more expensive than comparable JSKs that Moitié released in the past. Maybe it's due to the coffin lace? Still, I'm very fond of this piece. I'm holding out hope that it'll be released in a completely white colourway!

Rose Cross Arch Lace Headdress in black x blue.

The Rose Cross Arch Lace Headdress was released last year, and a small number were made available in a black x red colourway through Atelier Pierrot.  It really reminds me of the gorgeous frilly headdresses Moitié used to release in the early 2000s, even if it's a little bit less ornately detailed than some of their older pieces. I would have loved to see some picot ribbon or metal accents like they have on some of their other headpieces. But this is definitely a step in the right direction. I hope that they continue to produce more items like this!

 

Re-releases

The Long Cross OP in white. Simple designs are timeless!

It used to be that once a release was sold out, it was all gone, and you had to wait patiently for the dress to reach the secondhand market. Now, pretty much every brand has done a re-release or made-to-order release since they finally figured out that it's practically a licence to print money. Moitié resisted the trend of re-releases for a long time and claimed they had no plans to re-release coveted pieces like Silent Moon. Sure, they would create these sort of spiritual successors to legendary items (such as in the case of Iron Gate and Royal Gate, or Gothic Arch and Neo-Gothic Arch, or the new bat handbags) but they didn't really do straight up re-releases up until very recently.

Alice Kobayashi of the lolita brand Fairy Wish was one of the original Moitié designers in the early 2000s, She was responsible for a number of beautiful and classic non-print designs like the Cross OP, which was originally released in 1999 as a JSK, and the Juliet OP, which I believe was originally released in 2000. I own the re-release versions of both of these pieces and truly love them. I'm very happy that they released these classical, nostalgic designs to give newer fans a chance to try out the old-school Moitié aesthetic. These are two of the best re-releases, in my opinion.

And who could forget the Silent Moon bloodbath? I was lucky enough to get the OP in white on the first release because someone just happened to have had one sitting in their shopping cart, and it went back in stock after the cart expired 15 minutes later. The first release sold out completely in just minutes, which is something I'd never really seen for a neo-Moitié release before. 

I think this is a move in the right direction. Brands like Baby are known for regularly re-releasing variations on staple designs like Babydoll, Millefeuille, and Elizabeth. It encourages people to collect, and gives everyone an opportunity to own these iconic pieces. The brand is very aware of what pieces are most sought after right now, so I'm looking forward to seeing what interesting re-releases are on their way! While the quality of the re-releases has been about 50/50, I do think that the good re-releases are really good.

Overall Quality & Quality Control

It's pretty undeniable at this stage in the game - the high quality the brand used to be known for has taken a bit of a drive as of late. It's readily apparent, especially when comparing re-releases to originals. The quality of the neo-Moitié lace has been iffy at times, some of the fabrics used are a bit too thin, defects aren't entirely uncommon, and it just doesn't really feel as nice as older Moitié pieces. There's overall just less care and attention to detail. I've been burned enough times that I'm a little bit skeptical.

While their retail prices haven't risen too dramatically, material costs and labour costs are much higher than they were in the glory days of the brand in the mid-2000s. Multiple Q&As with the brand have mentioned that it's been difficult or cost-prohibitive to source certain materials and produce certain items. I remember at one point they mentioned not being able to procure custom lace (thankfully, the custom lace has made a comeback after some hiccups) or "odd-coloured" socks (socks that weren't simply black or white). Many (sadly not all) Moitié items are still produced in Japan, and that can't possibly be cheap in 2021. I am of the opinion that we get significantly less bang for the buck now, and Moitié was pretty expensive to begin with... so maybe that has something to do with it.

I do want to mention that despite these issues, they are still listening to fan feedback. The Moitié salon has regular polls asking for input on upcoming releases. They are responsive on social media like Instagram and Twitter, too. You guys might remember my really salty review of the St. Peter's Cross socks and the hot-glued headdress. I'm definitely not the only one who complained. They responded by fixing virtually all of these problems with the next sock release. At the same time, I think that the problems with the original release of the socks were so obvious that they shouldn't have gone into production as they were...but I guess they were in too deep to go back and revise them. 

I hope that the resurgence of interest in the brand will encourage them to bring the quality of the products more in line with their older releases. So far, the sneak previews I've seen on the Online Salon haven't been terribly promising, but it's hard to tell from photos alone.

Social Media & Fan Interaction

After the acquisition, Moitié really stepped up their social media presence. They went from being essentially silent to being as active as all of the other major brands. We finally started to see the brand make an appearance at overseas events and conventions, too. It's been really cool seeing Moitié run the convention circuit. I haven't travelled to Japan before, so I'd never had the opportunity to go to any events or concerts to see Moitié or Mana in person up until then.

Moitié's attempts to connect with the overseas community were being spearheaded almost entirely by Andrea, their English-speaking liason and general all-rounder. Andrea recently announced her departure from the brand, but during her time there she was responsible for virtually all interactions with overseas Moitié fans both online and at live events - and that was on top of her other duties! During the pandemic, Andrea made an incredible effort to reach out to the overseas community. And to put it bluntly, Moitié is going to have a very difficult time replacing Andrea. I sincerely doubt that they'll be able to find someone both willing and capable of taking on that complex of a role. I also fully expect that their social media presence is going to be a lot more bare-bones going forward, at least for overseas fans.

The Moitié Diaries series on Instagram (also available on YouTube) was a weekly Instagram live fans were asked to submit coordinates, participate in polls and contests, share their thoughts, or even chat live. Sneak peeks and sample coordinations of new releases were also shown here. My friends and I watched almost every episode and it was a great way of connecting with Moitié fans around the world.

I can also attest to the fact that there are many items I bought after seeing Andrea coordinate them on the show - and I know I'm definitely not the only one! Moitié hasn't figured out how to take good stock photos despite having two decades of practice. Andrea's coordinates showcased how good a lot of those pieces looked in person, and convinced me to purchase things I wouldn't have otherwise. Bad for my wallet, but good for Moitié.

The online tea parties held during the pandemic were also very fun. They were similar to the Moitié diaries, but more interactive, so we got to chat and play games in addition to learning about new releases. Similarly, the Moi-même-Moitié Online Salon is an online blog/community where fans can read posts from the brand and chat. Members get sneak previews of new releases and access to presales and special items, so it's worth it for that alone. I was a member for about a year when it initially opened up and eventually let my subscription lapse, but I recently rejoined. I'm glad I did!

 

Some Closing Thoughts...

I'm willing to admit that there have been more than a few missteps, but quite a few successes too, and the acquisition seems to have pulled back Moitié from the brink...for the time being, anyway. In fact, it's done more than that - it revitalized interest in Moitié and gothic lolita as a whole, and brought the brand and the substyle back into the spotlight for a new generation of lolitas. But while the brand is busy courting newer fans, it seems like the long-time fans are feeling more and more alienated and dissatisfied, and people are looking towards older releases again. 

Gone are the days of relatively cheap Moitié on secondhand sales...the used Moitié market is booming and shows no sign of slowing down. I'd be willing to hazard a guess that it's a combination of two things: the old fans, realizing that the old Moitié is gone forever, are desperately buying pieces up, and gung-ho new fans trying equally hard to keep up and collect coveted older pieces. I'm glad that I got into the brand when I did, because it's absolutely mind-boggling to see people willingly paying 2x or 3x retail price for dresses that I remember sitting marked down in the webshop or on auctions for months just a few years ago. The competition is getting crazy. I've even witnessed some incredibly offputting behaviour revolving around trivial things like who "deserves" to have some piece, or who outbid who on an auction. There's definitely some cliques forming and creating friction between new and old fans.

I do get the frustration, though. While in recent years a few prolific Japanese Moitié scalpers have been caught buying and reselling at obscene prices, the price of Moitié has risen to the point that buying from the scalpers isn't that much more expensive. I saw Falling Cross JSK sell for $600 on Fril the other day. This dress was a flop upon its release back in 2015 and was available on the webshop at a steep discount. I think I bought it in 2017 for around $200 CDN. Same story for my Cross & Roses OP, which is currently going for around $500 CDN on Lace Market. It's a 2014 release that I was able to buy from the webshop for $200 CDN on sale. In 2018. 

(I'm aware that there's plenty of older stuff currently sitting on sale in the webshop...but I think that my point still stands. I just have to wonder how sustainable this is.)

To be perfectly honest...as a long-time fan, I'm finding that I'm losing interest in future releases from the brand. There are a few really good things coming down the pipe (the details were announced in the salon/tea parties so I can't say, but trust me!) but outside of that, I just find myself shrugging my shoulders at a lot of the new releases. I'll continue to collect older pieces, but even that's a complete crapshoot with the current state of the market. I know I'm not the only Moitié collector who feels like this.

I wonder if this new strategy will work for the brand in the long run, or will they survive after the Moitié fad, like all fads, inevitably passes and the old fanbase has given up? Only time will tell, but I'm not very optimistic. The dedicated webshop is closing down  soon, and while I'm sure this is simply to avoid splitting limited resources between the official webshop and Wunderwelt, it still doesn't give me a good feeling.  I have the feeling that with time, Moitié may eventually end up back in the same position it was in around 2016 - alive, but in name only. My overall impression of neo-Moitié is just a resounding "Meh."

[Current Music: Angels of Liberty - The Last Vampire]