At 2 p.m. on the 17th, at The North Face White Label Seongsu directly managed store in Seongsu-dong, Seongdong-gu, Seoul. Even on a chilly weekday afternoon, about 30 people were lined up in a long queue at the store entrance. An employee at the entrance checked the appropriate number of people inside and guided customers into the store one or two at a time. Inside, customers felt the various padded jackets on display and gauged the sizes that would fit them.
This is the first White Label flagship store introduced in Korea by Youngone Outdoor's global outdoor brand The North Face, and it officially opened on the 15th after a soft opening on the 30th of last month.
White Label is a lifestyle collection that Youngone Outdoor has presented since 2011. While the existing The North Face focused on functional apparel for mountaineering and other outdoor activities, White Label blends in trendy designs to enhance its utility as everyday fashion.
The North Face White Label directly managed store has spread by word of mouth among domestic fashion early adopters and is being credited with leading this winter's fashion trend. Brand ambassador Park Bo-gum attended the official store opening event on the 15th, drawing large crowds to the surrounding area.
The store consists of two floors, and inside are displays of several popular The North Face White Label products. At the first-floor entrance, a new product that reinterprets the material of The North Face's representative short puffer "Nuptse Jacket" in suede was displayed. T-shirts, caps, and eco-bags that apply old Hangul typography no longer in use to their designs were also catching the eyes of foreign customers.
The second floor displayed various accessories, including the popular bag "Big Shot." The "Bootie," which improves warmth by applying padded material to the outer of the shoe, was also available in various colors.
The product group receiving the most attention from customers was lightweight padded jackets. Those entering the store would head first to the lightweight puffer display in the center of the first floor to check whether their desired product and size were available.
Ahead of this winter, The North Face's padded jackets were also very popular online. In particular, the new "Wave Light ON Jacket" was released in early September before the real cold set in, and sold out on the day of arrival, prompting a reorder. The additional production volume restocked on the online mall at the end of last month is also selling out quickly, focusing on popular colors and sizes.
According to the resale platform KREAM, transaction volume for padded jacket category products in October increased 108% from a year earlier. During the same period, The North Face's transaction volume surged 253%, and half of the top 10 products by transaction volume were The North Face.
As product popularity soared, more people paid premiums to buy them. On KREAM, the "Ventus ON Jacket" transacted for up to 3.7 times the list price. The "Wave Light ON Jacket" and "Matier EX Down Hoody" also transacted at 2.5 times and 2.2 times their list prices, respectively.
Buoyed by The North Face's brand popularity, sales at Youngone Outdoor, which holds the domestic distribution rights, are trending upward. Last year, it posted sales of 1.0052 trillion won, up 4.6% from a year earlier, surpassing 1 trillion won in annual sales for the first time. This year as well, boosted by the popularity of new products, there is an outlook that annual sales will increase further.
Starting with this White Label directly managed store, The North Face plans to continue opening new stores and pop-up stores in key areas going forward. It also plans to step up efforts to target domestic customers and overseas tourists through product diversification that spans functionality and trends.
A fashion industry official said, "Most domestic fashion brands have struggled on the sales front in recent years, but The North Face is maintaining growth thanks to the concurrent success of its signature outdoor line and its White Label lifestyle collection."