Haku Clothing started in 2004 as a physical shop in Japan called ROCOCO, opened by a team of buyers who'd all previously worked in American vintage stores and shared a specific interest in vintage American clothing. The shop built a cult following curating both established Japanese labels and small, lesser-known makers, which eventually pushed the team to launch a global website under the name Haku in 2022 to meet overseas demand. The name means "white" in Japanese, a color the brand treats as culturally significant rather than just a neutral backdrop.