Coats and Jackets Among Various Items
FamilyMart-Inspired Socks Trending on SNS
In Japan, known as the country of convenience stores, a 'fashion show' featuring only convenience store clothing was held. FamilyMart, which started its fashion business, created a huge buzz by holding a fashion show with its private brand (PB) products ranging from socks to jackets. There are also forecasts that Japanese convenience store brands will actively enter the clothing market in the future.
On the 1st, Asahi Shimbun reported that FamilyMart held such a fashion show the previous day in Harajuku, Tokyo. This is the first time in Japan that a convenience store has presented a fashion show featuring its own clothing products.
The fashion show venue was modeled after a FamilyMart store, and about 100 franchise owners and their families wearing denim jackets, coats, and other items produced by FamilyMart walked the runway as models. Breaking the stereotype that clothes sold at convenience stores are mostly monochrome, the show attracted attention by showcasing a variety of colors such as blue, neon pink, purple, and light green.
FamilyMart entered the clothing business in March 2021 and launched its original brand 'Convenience Wear.' To break the stereotype that clothes sold at convenience stores are plain, they commissioned renowned designer Hiromichi Ochiai, who has participated in the Paris Collection, for the designs. Additionally, leveraging the strengths of FamilyMart's parent company, Itochu Corporation, they were able to procure high-quality materials at low prices.
With this brand, they released socks, towels, T-shirts, and more. Socks featuring white backgrounds with blue and green lines in FamilyMart's colors became wildly popular on social media. According to Asahi, these 'FamilyMart color' socks sold 100,000 pairs in less than a year after their release. Currently, there are over 100 types of T-shirts available. Recently, they have expanded their product lineup to include cardigans, shorts, sandals, and skirts.
The denim jacket priced at 9,990 yen (87,000 KRW) and the bench coat priced at 19,990 yen (175,000 KRW) showcased in this show will be sold exclusively at the Azabudai Hills store, a high-rise complex building.
Shinsuke Hosomi, President of FamilyMart, explained the business expansion by saying, "We wanted to show the possibility that a convenience store within a five-minute walk can become a fashion store," and added, "Since the brand launch, there has been an increase in purpose-driven purchases where customers come to convenience stores specifically to buy clothing items that suddenly became necessary."
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