[IPO Spotlight] ‘No Brand’ Aiming for Quantum Jump as a Brand Incubator

Collaborating with New Brands through a Design Platform Beyond OEM·ODM
Targeting 1 Trillion KRW Revenue, 100 Billion KRW Net Profit, and 1 Trillion KRW Market Cap by 2030

Lee Jin-young, Head of Design at No Brand (second from the right), is reviewing design drafts for the '2024 SS Season' with designers. Photo by No Brand

This year’s second half will see the design platform house 'Nobrand' going public through an initial public offering (IPO), drawing attention from the related industry as it strengthens its role as a brand incubator for fashion apparel. Founded in 1994 by Chairman Kim Ki-hong, Nobrand is a hidden powerhouse in the apparel industry, recording consolidated sales of 552.9 billion KRW and operating profit of 47.7 billion KRW last year. It has maintained nearly 30 years of business relationships with global renowned fashion brands such as the U.S.-based GAP Group. On April 14, Nobrand filed for preliminary review for listing on the KOSDAQ through the Korea Exchange. The lead underwriter is Samsung Securities.

Headquartered in Songpa-gu, Seoul, with production bases in Vietnam and Indonesia, Nobrand defines itself as a 'design platform house.' Going beyond original equipment manufacturing (OEM) and original design manufacturing (ODM), the company directly plans, designs, produces, and ships its products. In particular, it focuses its capabilities on a production method specialized in design, presenting the direction of a 'design platform house.' To this end, Nobrand has significantly strengthened the expertise of its headquarters’ design division over the past few years. It employs about 60 specialized designers, accounting for nearly 20% of the headquarters staff. Since two years ago, it has been implementing the ‘Pick&Buy’ system, which independently manages all processes from seasonal planning, market research, color schemes, to fabric development.

Leveraging this manpower and design platform, Nobrand is collaborating with emerging brands and others, positioning its 'brand incubator' role as a new growth engine. The strategy is to grow together through close design and manufacturing cooperation from the early stages of the brand. This creates new business opportunities that transcend the limitations of traditional apparel manufacturing.

A representative example demonstrating Nobrand’s brand incubator role is its product planning and production cooperation with nuuds. Nuuds is a brand launched in 2022 through planning and production collaboration with Nobrand by the famous influencer couple, the Danner family, who have 1.41 million followers. From product concept to fabric sourcing and manufacturing, Nobrand has worked with nuuds to establish it as an innovative apparel brand supplying products online directly to target customers without offline stores. This year, the order volume is expected to surge to 15 million USD, more than ten times last year’s amount.

Canadian women’s apparel brand Aritzia has expanded its store count from just 28 in 2008 to 111 currently. Since establishing a partnership with Nobrand in 2011, the scale of transactions has increased more than 500 times over about a decade through various design and manufacturing collaborations. Major U.S. department stores JCPenney’s Ryegrass and Kohl’s Nine West also conduct all processes?from product concept, design, fabric sourcing to manufacturing?in cooperation with Nobrand, achieving market success.

Lee Jin-young, Executive Director leading Nobrand’s design division, explained, “When a client provides an image, we complete market research, design, printing, and fabric development internally, and manufacture at production plants in Vietnam and Indonesia, establishing a total service system.”

Last year, Nobrand recorded its best-ever performance with consolidated sales of 552.9 billion KRW, operating profit of 47.7 billion KRW, and an operating profit margin of 8.6%. It manufactures apparel for GAP Group’s GAP and Old Navy, as well as Banana Republic and Athleta. Popular in China, Major League Baseball (MLB) apparel, familiar denim brand Levi's, world-renowned designer Alexander Wang’s eponymous brand ‘alexanderwang,’ and rag & bone also pass through Nobrand’s hands.

The funds raised through the IPO in the second half will be used to strengthen research and development (R&D) and invest in smart factory facilities. Nobrand plans to digitalize the R&D process and database all design processes and materials to maximize the effectiveness of its design platform. President Lee Sang-kyu stated, “We aim to achieve a quantum leap by further strengthening the design and production capabilities we have built up through the IPO,” adding, “Our goal is to reach 1 trillion KRW in sales, 100 billion KRW in net profit, and a market capitalization of 1 trillion KRW by 2030.”