Musinsa is expanding beyond a simple fashion distribution platform into a platform that directly plans brand collaborations. It is not stopping at selling products from brands on the platform, but is bringing in public institutions, global brands, beauty brands, influencers, and tech corporations as collaboration partners, rolling out exclusive products available only on Musinsa. In the industry, some say Musinsa, which is preparing for an initial public offering (IPO), is using this to highlight the platform's scalability and product-planning capabilities during the listing process.
According to the industry on the 1st, Musinsa recently collaborated with the Republic of Korea Army Headquarters to launch the "ROKA Edition" using the Army's official brand, "ROKA (Republic of Korea Army)." It is said to be the first time the Army has released a collaboration product with a fashion platform.
The collaboration products were created by reinterpreting the tiger graphic symbolizing the Army and the ROKA logo and applying them to various apparel designs. Consisting of 15 items, including performance wear suitable for workouts, caps, windbreakers, and key rings inspired by dog tags, the products gained popularity immediately after launch, rising to the top of Musinsa's real-time rankings from No. 1 to No. 10.
This Army Headquarters case is an extension of Musinsa's expanding collaboration marketing strategy. Since Feb. 2024, Musinsa has systemized special-release products sold only on Musinsa under the concept of "Musinsa Edition" through collaborations with various brands. This also includes collaboration collections co-planned by brands, artists, and creators selected by Musinsa.
According to Musinsa, there were a total of 126 collaborations carried out as Musinsa Edition last year. This year, from Jan. 1 to Apr. 30 alone, 119 releases were made, up 297% from a year earlier. Products released as Musinsa Edition are gaining popularity, landing in the top tier of sales rankings immediately after release.
The scope of collaboration is broadening beyond fashion. Last month, through the special release service "Musinsa Drop," Musinsa unveiled in Korea for the first time the AI glasses "Oakley Meta," a collaboration between Oakley and Meta. It then opened a pop-up store at Musinsa Store Seongsu in Seongsu-dong, Seoul, creating a space for consumers to experience the product firsthand. A fashion platform was used as the domestic launch channel for a next-generation wearable device.
Musinsa is applying a similar collaboration strategy in beauty, a new business it is expanding into. "Sulwhasoo Perfecting Cushion," which Musinsa Beauty introduced last month through a collaboration between Sulwhasoo and the designer brand Le Je, sold out within 30 minutes of Musinsa's early release. Interest in the collaboration product led to purchases of other items as well, and Sulwhasoo's transaction amount on Musinsa in May rose 261% from a year earlier.
Musinsa's steady increase in collaboration products is seen as a strategy to give customers a reason to come to Musinsa amid intensifying competition among fashion platforms. In the online fashion market, the same brand products are often sold on multiple platforms at the same time, making it hard to differentiate through price and discount competition alone. In contrast, exclusive collaboration products can be purchased only on a specific platform, helping attract new customers and encourage repeat visits.
For individual brands as well, Musinsa is becoming more attractive as a collaboration partner. For collaboration products, early buzz and exposure are crucial, and Musinsa has a large member base, real-time rankings, live commerce, limited-release services, and offline pop-up spaces.
For this reason, by partnering with Musinsa alone, brands can quickly promote new products to young consumers and gauge actual sales responses. Musinsa also facilitates product planning with YouTubers or influencers suited to the target customers of on-platform brands, and supports photo shoots and marketing.
In the industry, Musinsa's expansion of collaborations is also seen as tied to its IPO preparations. After distributing a request for proposal (RFP) for the IPO to major domestic and overseas securities firms last year, Musinsa selected Korea Investment & Securities Co. and Citigroup Global Markets Securities as lead managers, and KB Securities and JPMorgan as joint bookrunners. In the investment banking (IB) industry, there is talk that Musinsa may file for a preliminary review for listing on the main bourse in the second half. The corporation value cited in the market is around 10 trillion won.
A fashion industry official said, "Recently, brand collaborations have moved beyond simply putting logos together; which platform and how they are unveiled has become a factor that determines success or failure," and added, "A platform like Musinsa, which has a young consumer base, content production capabilities, and both online and offline touchpoints, is a partner that can maximize collaboration effects for brands."