Brand Spotlight: Muji - Topic of the day 9/9/25
Founded in 1980, Muji is a global Japanese retail company selling a wide variety of household consumer items, furniture, clothing, and food products. Muji is most well-known for its philosophy of functional, quality design with a Japanese minimalistic aesthetic, offered at a reasonable [their words] price.
Have you bought clothes (or anything) from Muji? If so, what are your experiences? Are there any drawbacks to their low prices (quality, ethics, design, etc.)? What separates it from, oh, I dunno, Uniqlo?
16 Replies
i havent bought clothes but i like their gel pen design (the refills are sourced from uniball or zebra)
Not sure if they're still using it but they were using Xinjiang cotton for several years even after the expose
They used to advertise it, but when the expose broke, they just changed the name to Extra-Long Staple Cotton and kept selling it for several years after
So I mostly avoid their cotton stuff, even though the socks are probably the best bang for your buck (85% of the quality of other higher end Japanese sock brands for 1/10th of the price)
The lyocell boxers are nice and I have some of their home goods, the vegetable peeler is particularly nice
Muji Labo has a pretty popular following though it can be expensive for what it is
Muji wool (including yak/cashmere) is pretty bad, no anti-pilling treatment so it pills like crazy
There is no Muji where I live. They don't seem to have much presence in the US...yet?
have a few shirts and a denim jacket from them. generally pretty nice and good value for what you get
Iirc they had a bigger one pre Covid
lol apparently 8 of their 10 US stores are in New York
I‘m thinking so hard about getting the Hakama pants but I‘m still not sure if they‘d have a place in my wardrobe
I always have mixed feelings about Muji
They collaborate with a number of world class designers across both their home goods and clothing (whose names are almost never publicized or advertised). But I don't feel like I can really buy or cherish many of these pieces because they are not really designed with "permanence" in mind
Their regular clothing line is fine for plain, simple clothes. Like a less trendy and slightly more mature Uniqlo. Same ethical concerns with most everything in this price range and still don't think knitwear is ever worth buying from these kinds of brands
For Labo specifically I think it's a really good buy on sale for some basics and maybe slightly overlooked. They are simple pieces for the most part but use some cool materials and think it's a nice step up from regular muji or uniqlo without trying to do too much. Obviously have a cool history of working with designers like Yohji, margaret howell, daisuke obana, etc - though from what I've read I think their designs currently are in house again
This. Muji has some good stuff, but don't mistake it ethically for anything other than fast fashion.
That may matter more or less to some people, and we all make our choices. I just mean don't misunderstand their organic hippy image for an ethical company...they ain't.
Yeah they shuttered most of their US presence during COVID unfortunately, and they have a pretty high free shipping threshold.
Absolutely, they still very much fall under it despite all of the PR. It's just another corp
i can say that at least as of a few years ago (i havent been in a muji in a little while) they didn't emphasize the clothes too much beyond the basics in-store. the big emphasis is on a) the stationery and b) the home stuff. the clothes are a side thing
but on their website clothes take forefront
(my expeirence is w the one by bryant park and the 59th st one for whatever its worth)
but idk when I think of them I think of like. what if Ikea was japanese and made a bunch of other stuff
actually nvm about the stores, looking at pictures i think it was that the stuff was so basic it didnt cross my mind to look at it but its there
never tried any muji clothes but i like their stationary
Always been disappointed by their clothing in-store and when buying online and returned. I like their cheaper travel accessories.
store smells nice
used to be a warm store right next to a bus stop I used so I'd hang out there
clothes have felt progressively worse and worse so I've stopped thinking about them. The whole xinjiang cotton thing was unfortunate, they were so proud of it at first then obvious about rebranding the same thing as "extra long" or something like that
i still use a pencil case from them
Has anyone tried their Corduroy and Moleskin Pants - the Kapok blend ones?
MUJI
Kapok Corduroy Work Pants
A men's Corduroy work pants made with a blend of cotton and kapok fibre, an environmentally friendly plant grown without pesticides.
MUJI
Kapok Blend Moleskin Work Pants
Men's work trousers with the soft, suede-like texture of moleskin, bringing a refined look to any outfit while also keeping you warm in colder months.