Hyundai Department Store has debuted promising K-fashion brands at Japan's largest fashion show. Since last year, it has been promoting K-fashion brands in Japan through pop-up stores, and this time it will enter the fashion show stage that excites Japan's Generation Z.
Hyundai Department Store announced on the 1st that it will participate in the Tokyo Girls Collection (TGC) held at the Saitama Super Arena on the 6th, setting up a K-fashion special stage named 'The Hyundai Global Stage.'
It is the first time that a special stage focusing on K-fashion will be presented, bringing together Korean indigenous brands on the runway of TGC, which has a history of 20 years since its inception in 2005.
Unlike typical fashion shows, TGC is an entertainment-combined fashion show featuring performances by global artists, including idol groups, and is regarded as the most influential fashion fest for Japan's 10s and 20s. There are 20,000 on-site spectators, and the online live stream viewers reach 5 million.
'The Hyundai Global Stage' was planned at the suggestion of W TOKYO, the organizer of TGC. The recent focus of Japan's Generation Z on Hallyu trends led to attention on Hyundai Department Store's brand sourcing power.
Through the K-brand export platform 'The Hyundai Global,' Hyundai Department Store has been operating K-brand pop-up stores in famous shopping malls in Japan, and the regular store of The Hyundai Global is also scheduled to open next month at the Parco Shibuya shopping mall in Tokyo. This initiative aims to help promising brands, which face significant financial burdens in handling customs and logistics, contracts, and store operations, secure stable overseas distribution channels.
A representative from W TOKYO noted, 'Seeing the high performance of The Hyundai Global's pop-up store in Japan, we feel the unique charm of Hyundai Department Store's brand sourcing,' adding, 'This collaboration will create a new flow that connects the cultures of Korea and Japan, contributing to the overall development of Asian fashion culture.'
Hyundai Department Store oversees the selection of brands that will participate in The Hyundai Global Stage, as well as the overall stage planning and direction. To ensure expertise in this endeavor, it has partnered with the Korea Fashion Association to complete detailed preparations such as creating styling guides for each brand and selecting stage themes and direction keywords.
The runway of The Hyundai Global Stage will feature four brands: Trimming Bird, Rest & Recreation, The Barnet, and Ohesio, showcasing representative outfits for the fall/winter (FW) season. These brands have been carefully selected to reflect the tastes of Japan's Generation Z, which values individuality and unique styles, and the company plans to structure the stage to highlight each brand's unique style.
In addition, they will also support these brands to operate successfully in the Japanese market. They will be presented to Japanese consumers at The Hyundai Global store opening on the 19th of next month and at the edit shop 'Omokado The Shelter Tokyo' located on Omotesando Street in Tokyo. Trimming Bird, Rest & Recreation, and The Barnet will operate exclusive pop-up stores at The Hyundai Global store, while Ohesio will have its pop-up store at Omokado The Shelter Tokyo.
A representative of Hyundai Department Store stated, 'As the first Korean retail corporation to collaborate with W TOKYO, the organizer of TGC, we will use this fashion show stage to help K-fashion brands expand their overseas channels stably,' and added, 'In the future, we will provide systematic and continuous support to achieve long-term local customer lock-in rather than short-term event-based support, leading to the sustained global spread of K-fashion.'