[Global Leap of Specialty Malls-17] Selling 'Culture' with 'Tattoo Stickers' Boosts Sales Up...

Lee Jung-hoo, CEO of House of Rebels
Launches 'Tatist' to Eliminate Prejudice Against Tattoos
Sells 'Tattoo Stickers,' 'Badges,' and 'Clothes' Featuring Tattoo Designs
Tatist's Sales Increase 20-Fold in One Year

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] There is someone who left a highly sought-after global investment bank to 'sell' culture. The protagonist is Lee Jeong-hoo (32), CEO of 'House of Rebels,' which introduces various cultural arts and drives consumption. Recently, CEO Lee launched a new brand called 'Tatist' to dispel misunderstandings and prejudices about tattoos. It is a specialized brand that sells stickers, accessories, and clothing using tattoo designs that can be applied to the body.

CEO Lee worked at an overseas global investment bank handling mergers and acquisitions (M&A). After observing how major brands are formed, he judged that elements introducing completely different cultural backgrounds are the key to brand growth and decided to enter the business himself.

CEO Lee explained, "Several subsidiaries operated by the French luxury group 'Louis Vuitton Mo?t Hennessy' each have solid brand stories and cultural elements," adding, "I wanted to introduce this kind of culture to Korea, so we opened the cultural media channel 'Odi' at House of Rebels." Through Odi, CEO Lee started a business promoting so-called 'youth culture' such as tattoos, electronic music, and media art. After confirming that tattoo culture was beginning to be accepted mainly by young people in Korea recently, he launched it as an individual brand in the summer of 2018.

CEO Lee said, "Rather than simply thinking about selling many products, I want to spread the culture contained in tattoos." The flagship product, tattoo stickers, are products that can be easily applied instead of engraving tattoos on the body. They also play a role in widely introducing works by domestic tattoo artists recognized overseas.

Tatist's consistent efforts are ultimately moving consumers' hearts. Tatist's sales last year grew about 20 times compared to the previous year. Currently, Tatist sells various products including tattoo stickers that can be directly applied to the body, badges engraved with tattoo art, and clothing. Word of mouth has spread online, and now it is also gaining popularity in offline stores such as Olive Young. CEO Lee explained, "Our unique competitiveness lies in being able to work closely with various people who create culture."

Overseas expansion is also underway. CEO Lee said, "The online to offline sales ratio is 6:4, and we are looking for partners to enter the U.S., Japan, and Europe to increase the offline share," adding, "We have also built a shopping mall available in Japanese through the global e-commerce platform 'Cafe24.'"

CEO Lee said, "I want to add global competitiveness to the brands launched through House of Rebels and create brands that people with diverse cultural backgrounds can consume," and added, "Our goal is to grow Tatist into a brand that domestic as well as overseas tattoo artists want to collaborate with."