Olive Young vs. Silicon Two: K-beauty Pioneers Compete for Global Market Expansion

Olive Young Partners with Sephora to Expand Global Distribution Network
Silicon Two Pursues Direct Entry with "Moida" Alongside Vendor Operations

As K-beauty establishes itself as a key growth driver in the global beauty market, Korean cosmetics distributors are accelerating their overseas expansion. Olive Young, the largest multi-brand shop (MBS) channel in Korea, has partnered with Sephora, the world's leading beauty retailer, to expand its global distribution network. Meanwhile, Silicon Two, which has supported the overseas expansion of K-beauty brands, is moving beyond its role as an intermediary cosmetics vendor to directly enter the global beauty market.

According to the beauty industry on January 25, Olive Young signed an official partnership with Sephora this month. Starting in the second half of this year, Olive Young will establish "K-beauty zones" in Sephora stores located in six regions: the United States, Canada, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Hong Kong. The company will showcase carefully selected K-beauty brand products in these zones. While the exact numbers may vary by store, each K-beauty zone is expected to feature an average of 18 brands and about 80 products (SKUs). Olive Young also plans to expand these zones to the Middle East, the United Kingdom, and Australia in the future.

Olive Young Curates K-beauty at Sephora... First U.S. Store Opening This Year

In addition to its collaboration with Sephora, Olive Young is also making a direct entry into the U.S. market. After establishing a corporate entity in Los Angeles, California early last year, the company plans to open its first U.S. store in Pasadena, California in May. Olive Young is considering sequentially opening multiple stores, starting with LA Westfield and focusing on California. By pursuing a "two-track strategy"-combining the Sephora partnership with its own store openings-Olive Young aims to rapidly expand K-beauty awareness. Brands featured in Sephora stores will also be available simultaneously on Sephora's online mall.

Interior view of Sephora Champs-?lys?es in Paris, France. A Korean-style skincare zone has been set up to introduce K-Beauty brands.

In this collaboration, Olive Young is responsible for curation and marketing, while Sephora handles local distribution and sales execution. Sephora has actively expanded the K-beauty category by setting up dedicated "K-beauty skincare" zones in major stores across the U.S. and Europe. Currently, major brands such as Beauty of Joseon, Glow Recipe, Laneige, Innisfree, Aestura, Torriden, and Biodance are available. With Amorepacific, Sephora has entered into exclusive sales agreements for certain brands for a set period. While Sephora maintains a premium brand-focused strategy, the strategic importance of K-beauty has grown, leading to portfolio expansion through collaboration with Olive Young.

Rival Ulta Beauty has already made K-beauty a core strategy, establishing dedicated zones both online and offline and engaging in aggressive marketing. Major brands include Anua, Medicube, TirTir, and Pyunkang Yul. An Olive Young representative stated, "By leveraging Olive Young's strengths in direct curation and marketing, we will deliver the latest trends that are currently gaining attention in Korea," adding, "Ultimately, our goal is to grow together with Olive Young in the global market, while enabling each brand to secure its own competitiveness worldwide."

Silicon Two Expands Beyond Vendor Role to On-Offline Cosmetics Platform

Interior view of the Moida store located in central Paris. About 40 to 50 brands are housed here. In the UK, there are three stores, starting with the first store at Westfield London.

Silicon Two, which has supplied K-beauty brands to global distributors, is strengthening its direct distribution strategy. In addition to serving as a vendor for global distribution and platform clients such as Ulta Beauty, TikTok, Boots, and Target, Silicon Two operates its own online mall and offline stores, implementing a two-track strategy.

In the United States, the top export market for K-beauty, Silicon Two plays a vendor role for global platforms and retailers, while also operating the offline "Moida" store and the online mall "StyleKorean," launching an all-out campaign to spread K-beauty. In Europe, the company is intensifying its direct entry strategy by focusing on Moida stores in London, UK and Paris, France. Currently, there are three Moida stores in the UK. Beyond its role as a vendor and online mall operator, Silicon Two aims to internalize the entire distribution process by directly securing contact points with local consumers through offline stores.

The core competitive edge of its offline strategy is logistics. Silicon Two has established logistics hubs around the world, enabling rapid product supply. Its accumulated brand network, built through supporting the overseas expansion of K-beauty brands, is also a strength. In Europe, Silicon Two operates a logistics warehouse in Poland; in the Middle East, it has a facility in Dubai, United Arab Emirates; and to target South America, it established a forward base in Mexico in October last year. Based on this, the company is working to expand its store presence in Paris, France, while planning to open additional Moida stores in Germany, Italy, Spain, the Middle East, and South America.

Silicon Two aims to contribute to the expansion of the K-beauty market by creating a virtuous cycle that connects online and offline channels. Products that have proven sales performance online are introduced in offline stores, and consumer responses observed in stores are fed back into online sales and brand product purchasing strategies. Through this, the company plans to accumulate data on trends, ingredient preferences, and price resistance by country.

A Silicon Two representative said, "Our strengths lie in having global logistics hubs and securing cosmetics trend data for each country," adding, "While expanding the overall K-beauty market, we will also grow Silicon Two into a global platform that provides the fastest access to Korean beauty trends."