HEART CLOSET is gaining a great deal of attention as a brand for larger-busted women. The entrepreneur behind it began the business based on her own experience, and when she announced the project on crowdfunding completely sold out in just 2 hours, and media publications have already surpassed 200 companies inside and outside of Japan. Having entered a niche market, the company is hurrying to develop an e-commerce site as it focuses on expanding items from autumn onwards.

Mizuki Kurosawa, the CEO of 122 Inc. which manages the brand, had a larger bust ever since she was a junior high school student, already a G cup. Even after becoming an adult, Kurosawa found that the only clothing she could wear was overexposed clothing like tube tops, and felt that she was often seen as having a flashy, provocative personality because of such clothing.

After starting a business her struggle with choosing clothing remained the same. When wearing shirts and jackets with regular sizes, Kurosawa said that, “the fabric would pull, would become too constrictive, or would make my shoulders become stooped.” The ill-fitting clothing had an unflattering effect on her figure.

Resolved by the idea that “there have to be many women who are having a hard time just like me,”

Kurosawa launched “an apparel brand conceived from bust size” in December of 2015. Setting aside the scope of tastes and fashion, she started making clothes that regular businesswomen could wear.

Since she was an amateur when it came to making clothing, Kurosawa consulted with a sewing factory in Japan that she was introduced to by an acquaintance, and had the factory make a sample. She gathered together more than 15 larger-busted women, had them check out the samples and give her their opinions, which she then referenced to make corrections.

For example, she made a three-dimensional design that takes about 20cm of extra fabric in the front so that the fabric does not get pulled by the chest. Or in order for the wearer’s belly to stay covered when a shirt is worn untucked, not only is the front slightly longer, inner buttons hidden inside also keep the fabric from opening. Even the collar is slightly bigger to achieve balance.

After Kurosawa announced the project on the ticket purchase type Japanese crowdfunding site ENjiNE, she reached her financial goal in 2 hours and ultimately raised 3,600,000 yen which was a 1000% increase over the goal. Shirts cost from 11,000 yen and jackets are from 24,000 yen (both are the crowdfunding purchase price).

Although Kurosawa began the business with some apprehension, the response was greater than expected and her company will be getting serious about the business from autumn. Now they are looking to set up their online sales system and operate actual stores for a limited time period.

According to a survey by one undergarment manufacturer, many young women have not properly identified their own bust size, and 1 in 4 women are an E cup size or greater. In light of the many tweets and comments on the crowdfunding page asking “Why didn’t we have this before?” clothing for women with larger busts, which was thought to be a niche market, may actually turn out to be quite “large.”