Musinsa Accelerates Global Expansion... Leading Overseas Advancement of Partner Brands

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] Musinsa announced on the 21st that it will officially launch a global business to support the overseas expansion of its partner brands.

First, it decided to make a strategic investment in Ideal People, a company operating primarily in Europe. Established in the United States in 2008, Ideal People is an overseas showroom agency that plans overseas wholesale, fashion shows, and events to introduce Korean brands to the global stage.

Starting with this investment, Musinsa plans to support the European expansion of promising brands among those listed on the Musinsa Store. The focus will be on domestic fashion brands that possess world-class competitiveness in terms of product quality and design but have not had opportunities to enter overseas markets due to a lack of infrastructure.

Richard Chun, CEO of Ideal People, said, “Through overseas wholesale of domestic brands such as Anderson Bell and Thisisneverthat, we have confirmed the potential for success of K-brands in overseas markets. Taking this investment as an opportunity, we plan to develop new business models such as digital collections and contactless buying, while expanding the discovery of promising domestic brands and the development of overseas sales channels.”

Musinsa is also targeting the Japanese market. In January, Musinsa completed the establishment of its Japanese corporation and has begun building infrastructure to help domestic brands enter the Japanese market. Before Musinsa Store directly enters the Japanese online market, the business will be developed in a way that allows brands to easily expand into Japan.

In particular, to operate the brand support business stably, Musinsa has formed a strategic partnership with a Japanese company and will deploy specialized Musinsa personnel focused on payment systems, logistics, and customer service (CS) operations. Considering that the Japanese market differs significantly from the domestic market in terms of business operation methods and customer behavior, the strategy is to quickly enter the fashion market with a localization strategy that reflects market trends and target preferences.

Han Moon-il, Head of Growth Strategy, stated, “As seen in the overseas showroom business operated by Ideal People, overseas demand for domestic brands is rapidly increasing, but many have missed opportunities due to lack of infrastructure. We plan to find clues and possibilities for Musinsa’s overseas business through the investment in Ideal People and the establishment of the Japanese corporation.”