A logo that looks like a hastily scribbled signature, a loose T-shirt that falls to the thigh. Even if you are not very interested in fashion, you have probably seen this brand's clothes at least once. It is the global street fashion brand Stüssy. Stüssy recently opened a directly managed store in Apgujeong, Seoul, and began offline sales.
Until now, Stüssy only indirectly operated one store in Korea in collaboration with a domestic select shop company. But early this year, after declaring a direct entry into the Korean market, it closed the existing store and, after about six months of preparation, opened a new one.
With Stüssy's direct entry, Apgujeong in Seoul now has both Supreme and Palace directly managed stores, leading to assessments that it has emerged as the hub of street fashion in Korea. Street fashion refers to a free-spirited and individualistic style inspired by urban streets, not born from a particular designer or runway.
Stüssy is a brand started in the early 1980s in Laguna Beach, California, by surfer and maker Shawn Stussy. Led by its distinctive signature-style logo, it has gained popularity in the global market. In the fashion industry, it is credited with bringing streetwear into the mainstream in earnest and has a worldwide fandom.
Stüssy Korea opened its first directly managed flagship store, Stüssy Seoul Chapter, in Apgujeong on the 5th of this month. From day one, people flocked to buy products, forming long lines and drawing attention.
Since the 1980s and 1990s, Stüssy has opened small stores in major cities around the world such as New York, LA, Tokyo, and London, calling them "chapter stores." In Asia, Japan has the most with five locations (Harajuku and Shibuya in Tokyo, Kyoto, Nagoya, and Osaka), and China has three. In addition, there is one store each in Taiwan (Taipei), Hong Kong, Singapore, and Thailand (Bangkok).
Korea's ties with Stüssy date back to 2008. At that time, the domestic select shop Kasina formed a partnership with Stüssy and opened the first offline store in Apgujeong. After that, Stüssy's Korean subsidiary, Stüssy Korea (Korea Tribe LLC), operated the online store, while Kasina ran the offline store, continuing a collaborative arrangement. However, due to a dualized distribution structure, the same products were sometimes sold at different prices, causing confusion among consumers.
Early this year, Stüssy Korea declared a direct entry into the domestic market and took over operating rights for the existing offline store. The existing store then operated only until Mar. 31 before closing, and after about six months of preparation, offline sales resumed on the 5th of this month.
Stüssy's direct entry is seen as the global headquarters viewing Korea as a key market for streetwear consumption in Asia and attempting to strengthen its brand strategy and market dominance. With headquarters directly managing prices and the supply chain in the domestic market, consumer confusion is expected to decrease, and various events such as limited-edition releases and collaboration product drops are likely to become more active.
Stüssy Korea unveiled a limited-edition graphic T-shirt bearing "SEOUL" simultaneously with the reopening of the Seoul Chapter, and the response has been so hot that a reorder was decided by the afternoon of opening day.
Meanwhile, the Apgujeong area, where Stüssy Seoul Chapter opened, is emerging as a center of street fashion as various brands enter one after another. The American street fashion brand Supreme opened its 16th directly managed store worldwide in Apgujeong in 2023, drawing great attention as the second directly managed store in Asia after Japan in 2006.
The British street brand Palace also opened its first directly managed store in Korea in Apgujeong in Feb. last year. In addition, the Apgujeong area is seeing offline sales either through directly managed stores or select shop placements by domestic brands that pursue street fashion, including Musinsa Standard, thisisneverthat, Covernat, and LMC.