NOT OEM is a graphic wear brand launched in Japan in 2024. With the aim of fundamentally overturning the “OEM mindset” of Japan’s apparel industry, it takes the approach of creating from scratch the plans, designs, and products it believes are good. Its offerings center on T-shirts and sweatshirts, and extend to bags and interior items. Four members whose livelihoods are in apparel OEM divide responsibilities and handle everything from planning to production.
Concept
The brand name embodies an approach of creating from scratch the plans, designs, and products the members genuinely believe are good, as a way of fundamentally overturning the OEM mindset of Japan’s apparel industry. As a group that has made things while earnestly responding to real-world demands through OEM and overcoming various hardships, it will continue making products that go beyond and set themselves apart from OEM while paying respect to it.