Department store ‘small brand’ Daejeon… Contemporary view changes

Recently, as the fashion industry is focusing on attracting small brand products, the appearance of stores in contemporary department stores is also changing to focus on so-called ‘only I know’ brands. The structural environment for new designers and small sellers to enter large distribution channels has improved compared to before, and brand scarcity has become a central value for the MZ generation to consume fashion.

According to the fashion industry on the 22nd, there has been an increase in the number of relatively unfamiliar brands entering the contemporary halls of major department stores recently. Before opening a stand-alone store, a movement to attract pop-up stores to see consumer reactions is also actively appearing.

Among the major department stores, The Hyundai Seoul has fashion brands such as Xie, Ma Teng Kim, Porter, and Atheer, which are popular, and a bag brand stand oil pop-up event is booming at Hyundai Department Store in Pangyo. At the Shinsegae Department Store Gangnam branch, French brand Coureju will enter stores this September, following Recto, W Concept, and Shop Amomento, which have already entered stores. Thanks to the success of attracting brands such as Army and Maison Kitsune, the Samsung C&T Fashion Division also opened independent stores for Jacquemus, Gani, and Studio Nicholson.

Among them, ‘Xie’, which entered The Hyundai, exceeded 700 million won in monthly sales as of last March, achieving the highest monthly sales ever for a single store of a young fashion brand. The average monthly sales of ‘Matteeng Kim’, which opened in the same place in January, is also known to be over 600 million won.

The fact that a somewhat unfamiliar brand has risen to the mainstream of the department store’s contemporary hall is largely due to a change in consumption trends centered on the MZ generation. As preference for products that reflect individual values ​​and beliefs, such as product philosophy, has increased, even if they are not popular, brands that have formed customer fandom by developing unique brand stories have emerged on the surface in Korea as well.

The rarity of a brand that only I know, not a brand that everyone knows, has become a great weapon, and among them, if the price range is relatively high, there is a phenomenon in which the value rises rapidly like a ‘new luxury product’.

As a result, fashion platforms and department store distribution channels have more responsibility than before to discover and nurture popular brands. Previously, it was natural for small sellers and emerging designers who operated low-profile brands to rely on the platform’s influence to increase their initial sales power. The blood loss was great because the entry fee had to be paid before the brand competitiveness was established.

However, now that an environment has been created in which small brands can easily gain self-sufficiency through their own malls or various social media, the need to quickly attract customers’ footsteps by attracting products that have started to attract attention has increased.

In fact, small brand operators and up-and-coming designers do not hold large-scale offline events by investing large-scale marketing costs from the early stage of product sales. This is because the direction of publicity is infinitely open, such as image making through social media first and advertising through influencers.

As a result, large distribution channels are even moving forward, nurturing up-and-coming designers and launching seller support programs. Beyond simply playing a distribution role, it also provides brand marketing and content planning for sellers.

An industry insider said, “Ami, Maison Kitsune, Lemaire, and Maison Margiela, which were previously called new products, have become somewhat boring brands for the MZ generation. The responsibility to follow up quickly has grown more than before.”

An industry official from the front said, “There are also cases in which emerging designer brands quickly rise to the mainstream if they suit the taste of consumers. Thanks to this phenomenon, small designer brands that have always been popular are now receiving more diverse support offers than before.”

Another industry official said, “The Hyundai Seoul basement pop-up stores in Yeouido have become a playground for the MZ generation in particular.” The pattern of consuming the brand itself has become clear.”

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