K-fashion struts its stuff overseas as a global trendsetter

Young Korean fashion brands are taking advantage of overseas markets as they find greater opportunities for the popularity of Korean culture.

K-content as well as Korean makeup and fashion are gaining popularity overseas, especially in Japan, enough to attract the attention of major department stores in the country.

Matin Kim is one such brand that is gearing up to launch in Japan after successfully opening pop-up stores in Tokyo and Osaka.

During the week-long pop-up shop held at Hankyu Department Store’s Umeda branch since February 21, customers lined up even before the store opened, just like the Korean phenomenon of “open launch,” where people wait in line on a first-come, first-served basis. first-come, first-served basis for acquiring goods with limited availability or capitalizing on attractive sales.

Matin Kim’s pop-up store caught the attention of young Japanese consumers when popular influencers visited the store on its opening day.

The idea for the recent pop-up store was originally proposed by Hankyu Department Store, according to Korean brand investor and online fashion platform Hago Haus, a brand incubator that supports the offline business of Matin Kim and other labels such as Depound, VocaVaca and Uniform Most.

Matin Kim’s first pop-up store in Japan, which opened at Tokyo’s Shibuya Parco Mall last October, attracted 100 visitors a day and reaped 500 million won ($375,776) in sales over a 12-day period.

Following its recent successes, the brand will launch two more pop-up stores in Nagoya in April and another in Tokyo in May.

“Starting with the pop-up shop in Osaka, we will try to interact with more Japanese consumers from different regions and promote our brand,” said Matin Kim Vice President Lee Dong-gyu. “We will also drive expansion into other countries.”

Young designer brands such as Matin Kim are looking to enter overseas markets as domestic demand declines amid an economic slowdown.

Japan is considered the next region as the market share is twice that of Korea, generating 100 trillion won in annual revenue and is considered to have a relatively low barrier to entry as consumer body types and seasonal characteristics are similar to those in Korea.

Musinsa, another major fashion e-commerce company in Korea, opened a showroom in Tokyo for four days, showcasing Fall/Winter 2024 products from seven fashion brands, including Glowny, Kijun, Rockfish Weatherwear, Rest&Recreation and Stand Oil. According to Musinsa, over 150 buyers active in Japanese fashion and retailers such as GR8, Beams and United Arrows visited the showroom, as well as major department stores Hankyu and Isetan Mitsukoshi.

“We were confident from our showroom management experience that the distinctive charm of Korean fashion brands holds a competitive edge in the Japanese market,” said a Musinsa spokesperson. “We will actively support the expansion of our affiliated brands in Japan through the use of various channels.”

Local brands graced Paris Fashion Week, which kicked off on February 26, one of the four major global fashion weeks along with the others in New York, Milan and London.

Local womenswear brand, Time, debuted in the global market through the Paris showcase, holding a solo presentation at the Palais de Tokyo cultural complex on February 29.

Established in 1993, Time is one of the brands in Hyundai Department Store’s The Handsome clothing group. Other fashion brands under The Handsome such as System and System, as well as designer brands Homme Songzio and WooYoungMi also participated in Paris Fashion Week.

Songzio, which cut the ribbon on a store at French luxury department store Printemps, has simultaneously opened flagship stores in Seoul and Paris.

Some brands have chosen to initially enter the overseas market before returning back to Korea. One such example is Kimhekim, which made its overseas debut at Paris Fall/Winter Fashion Week 2019. Established in 2016 by the brand’s designer and CEO Kim In-tae, it is marketed as a contemporary high-end brand , which is popular on global retail platforms such as Farfetch and Ssense.

The brand opened a pop-up at Lotte Department Store’s Myeongdong branch, which runs until March 25, with the aim of introducing the K-fashion brand to Korean consumers.

According to Lotte, almost half of the sales at the brand’s flagship store in Cheongdam-dong, South Seoul originate from foreign visitors and tourists.

“It’s hardly an exaggeration to say that K-fashion has the new ‘it’ brands that are leading the way in the global fashion industry,” said an industry insider on condition of anonymity. “Global market expansion is expected to be proportional to sales growth.”

BY KIM KYUNG-MI [[email protected]]