Asia Times: Korea is back in fashion for foreign brands



	February 12, 2000	atimes.com

Asian Crisis

Korea is back in fashion for foreign brands

SEOUL - Foreign fashion brands, which saw their popularity plummet after the economic crisis hit the country in 1997, are returning in droves thanks to heightened consumer confidence in business recovery.

Fashion industry officials are expecting 30 overseas fashion brands will start operations here from spring, including many which pulled out of Korea after the crisis broke out. ''Well-known fashion brands are rushing to Korea in the belief that business here, especially the consumption spirit of high-income earners, has recovered,'' a fashion industry source said. ''Returning brands that saw sluggish sales when they first entered Korea are preparing more active marketing strategies.''

Calvin Klein Jeans, which was sold through LG Fashion but left the country in 1998, became the first foreign fashion brand to return. It set up CK Jeans Korea in December last year. CK Jeans Korea currently has two shops and plans to set up another 13 this year.

DKNY is also re-entering the domestic market from March. Learning from its previous experience with domestic distributor Samsung Corp, the brand will rely this time on IK Enterprises to manufacture at least 80 percent of DKNY products for Korean consumption.

Levi's Korea will launch its popular Dockers slacks, a brand of business casuals aimed at men aged 25-34, which is already being sold in Japan, Hong Kong, and Singapore as well as Europe. Eight Dockers shops will open this year, mainly in major department stores in Seoul.

Reebok Korea will begin to sell its clothing here this summer. Fila Korea and Nike Sports began early this year to market children's clothing brands Fila Kids and Nike Kids. Forerunner Prospects Junior, Adidas Kids and Lecaf Kids are also planning to expand sales volume substantially, foreshadowing harsh competition in the domestic market.

Adidas Korea, which launched Adidas Kids in spring 1998 as the first foreign sportswear maker to open a children's clothing shop, will expand the number of its shops from 60 to 100 this year.

Luxury products are also making a big comeback in the foreign brand boom. Spain-based luxury product maker Loewe, a subsidiary of the LVMH Group, will begin operations in Korea in March. Another LVMH brand, Celine, moved into Korea last year through the establishment of Celine Korea and has its own shops in Shinsegae and Hyundai Department Stores. It will open five shops in large cities like Pusan, Kwangju and Taegu.

Louis Vuitton, the parent group of LVMH, will also open a large store directly managed by the company in Seoul in July this year. Prada, which saw booming sales of its bags in Korea and started to sell sportswear last fall, will bring in its economically-priced women's-wear brand MiuMiu in the latter half of this year.

A special discount store for popular foreign brands like Giorgio Armani and Versace will be established soon for the first time in the country. Marketing consulting firm DMSK will open the discount complex, Brandbank, with 75 shops already preparing to start operations in the Tongdaemun fashion market at the end of February. The store will sell direct imports of Italian fashion products at lower prices than existing stores.

(Asia Pulse/Yonhap)