Hi, I’m Momoko. Daitai Vintage grew wildly alongside my 19-year career in corporate fashion, where creating new clothes inspired by vintage became my signature approach to design. Grounded by my obsessive love in all things heritage, I learned the history and craft of iconic menswear and how it impacts what we wear today. As I shared these stories, my friends and my community were first to encourage me to share more widely.

After eight years at Ralph Lauren and seven at Banana Republic, I knew my next step was to contribute to a more circular economy: building platforms where secondhand and vintage garments could be curated thoughtfully, without overwhelming the consumer.

My father ran a Japanese vintage shop in Madison, Wisconsin, and my mother always reminded me, “Daitai de i yo”—it doesn’t need to be exact to matter. Those lessons shaped how I see clothing: not as disposable, but as carriers of memory, character, and story.

This is how Daitai began.

Daitai (currently) is a community-based vintage and resale shop rooted in the idea that clothes carry meaning through time, wear, and memory. We choose garments with character... worn-in, well-made, and worth holding onto. A frayed cuff, a sun-faded collar, a perfectly broken-in leather sleeve mark a life already lived. By sharing their stories, we renew their value.

The name Daitai (だいたい in Japanese) means about, almost, roughly so. It reflects our belief that things don’t need to be perfect to be meaningful. That philosophy guides every piece we source and every story we share.

For the Daitai community, clothing is a way of remembering, connecting, and moving through the world with intention. When someone asks what you’re wearing, the answer is... sit down, and let me tell you a story.

Daitai continues a legacy and builds a movement: quality over quantity, history with evolution, and community through clothing.

Trace the icons with us and help shape what Daitai will become.