Indie Lolita Brands: Lief

Brand: Lief
Country: Korea
Best Known Print: Sacred Night, Gardenberries
Sizing: S/M, L/XL; max bust on op/jsk: ~110cm, max waist: 90cm
Plus-size friendly: YES
Pricing: $49 - $270
How to order: Send an email to info@lief.kr with order form information. Usually limited to preorders aka reserves internationally; also sells a few leftover items on their Facebook page.

Links:

Launched in 2010, LIEF 리프 has gone through the cycle of infamy and rebirth as an independent lolita brand. They first came to my attention after I realized that my dream dress is Sacred Night.

Unfortunately, there were production problems in the Lief/Mew collaboration. There were 2 main people running the company: Chunghui (seamstress) and Sora (illustrator). After Sacred Night was shipped out, many international customers were upset with the quality of the print and structure of the dress. A list of old reviews from this time is listed here.

They rebooted the company in 2013 after the drama with Sacred Night. Sora reappeared in the international scene selling with the help of One Day In Paradise (defunct Australian consignment shop) with the Matryoshka The Nesting Doll series and My Tart series. They have recently partnered with Ergi for European distribution and Lolita Collective for selling leftovers from older releases from ODIP. Also, Lief sells internationally from their website.

In more recent news, they have been selling in Japan in specialty shops! They often retweet updates and coordinates on their twitter.

Items sold by Lief: skirt, JSK, OP, bows, bonnet, tights

Potential problems: high shipping cost (EMS), delays in communication due to high demand and different time zone in Korea

Special discounts: N/A

Want inspiration for your coord? Look at #Lief tag on Tumblr OR Customer Photos Album on Lief's Facebook page.