What Is plain-me? Taiwan’s Everyday Select Shop Since 2005
What is plain-me? plain-me is a Taiwan apparel select platform and own-brand project founded in 2005 by Liu Wei-chih (Akko) and Tim. It helped popularize Japanese-style select-shop dressing in Taipei through an early online-plus-store model and a “plain,” beginner-friendly wardrobe. This explainer covers the brand for shoppers mapping Taiwan street and everyday style.
plain-me sits on the Taiwan map next to the wider Asian streetwear context in our Asian Streetwear Guide.
2005: Select Shop for Beginners
The official plain-me About page dates founding to 2005 and calls the project Taiwan’s representative apparel select platform — nearly twenty physical points island-wide plus the official site and other online channels, weekly Thursday drops, curated domestic and international brands, and own lines aimed at Taiwan daily and functional needs. The mission line is to help more people enjoy “搭配美好的一天” (dress for a better day) and to accumulate Taiwan clothing culture.
A 2025 KEEDAN twentieth-anniversary feature names co-founders Akko and Tim as Fu Jen Catholic University seniors/juniors who opened an East District Taipei shop while building a Japanese-inspired online store — an early O2O select setup. They cite BEAMS, UNITED ARROWS, and Journal Standard runs as the culture they wanted Taiwan to have locally. Akko’s earlier role founding PTT’s Mix_Match board sits behind that community instinct.
What “Plain” Means
KEEDAN quotes the founders’ aim: make it easy for beginners to start dressing. Early product logic favored clean T-shirts, shirts, easy outerwear, and comfortable trousers — “plain” as ordinary and basic, not loud costume. That stance mattered in a mid-2000s Taipei still heavy on import logos and before Uniqlo/Zara/H&M fully remapped basics. GQ Taiwan similarly describes a small East District alley start, Akko’s electronics background launching web retail in year one, and Tim’s aesthetic lead — including suits cut for local body proportions when Western sizes felt oversized.
Own Lines, 附近, Longevity
Official About now stresses own brands for Taiwan daily/functional needs beside select partnerships with hundreds of brands across many countries. GQ covers the 2014 “附近by Plain-Me” Minsheng-community shop and a first brand fashion show the same year as a softer retail chapter. KEEDAN notes later illustration-led own products and historical select collabs with Japanese labels such as BEAUTY&YOUTH and Journal Standard as examples of how the platform stayed in conversation with the shops that inspired it.
Founder talks collected by outlets such as Liberty Times describe mid-2010s cash-flow stress, inventory clearance that unlocked cash, and later COVID-era pressure — useful as public lessons in running a select business long-term, not as audited financial claims. The through-line the founders keep repeating is everyday dressing that lasts longer than a hype cycle.
Why plain-me Matters for Asian Streetwear Shoppers
If you are mapping Taiwan after drop-only techwear or celebrity logo street, plain-me is the durable select-shop case: 2005 O2O roots, beginner-friendly “plain” wardrobe, and own lines that serve daily Taiwan weather and sizing. It shows how Japanese select culture was localized into a platform shoppers still use for ordinary good days, not only limited releases.
For more reading, see the Asian Streetwear Guide and What Is Streetwear? 15 Streetwear Outfit Ideas.
FAQ
What is plain-me?
plain-me is a Taiwan apparel select platform and own-brand project founded in 2005. Official About frames it as a multi-store, multi-brand curator with weekly drops and own daily/functional lines.
Who founded plain-me?
劉威志 (Akko) and Tim (念定文), per KEEDAN and GQ Taiwan. Akko is widely profiled as the public-facing co-founder; Tim leads aesthetic/operations in those features.
When did plain-me start?
2005, per official About and the twentieth-anniversary KEEDAN feature.
Is plain-me only a select shop?
No. Official About and GQ describe both curated international/domestic brands and growing own-brand lines aimed at Taiwan everyday and functional dressing.
What does the name mean?
Founders and KEEDAN tie “plain” to ordinary, basic, beginner-friendly clothes — dressing that feels appropriate for daily life rather than costume streetwear.