Even as the recovery in consumer spending in China has slowed recently, Korean fashion brands are expanding their presence across categories such as outdoor, sports, and eyewear. During this year's 618 shopping festival, China's biggest e-commerce event in the first half, Korean brands ranked near the top in key categories where global brands and Chinese local brands compete.
Industry officials say K-fashion is expanding its foothold in the Chinese market not just on the back of the Korean Wave, but through brand competitiveness that taps into local consumer tastes. In particular, placing in the upper ranks of category-by-category transaction amount standings is being seen as a meaningful result against global brands and Chinese local brands.
According to related industries on the 1st, the 618 event is a discount promotion that JD.com holds annually from mid-May to mid-June to mark its June 18 founding anniversary. Major Chinese online shopping platforms such as Tmall (天猫) and Douyin also take part, making it the biggest first-half shopping event. According to Chinese e-commerce data firm Syntun, total online transaction amount during this year's 618 period was 934 billion yuan (about 213 trillion won), up 4.0% from a year earlier. Compared with last year's growth rate (15.2%), momentum slowed.
Kolon Sports, run by Kolon FnC, took No. 1 in the outdoor institutional sector in Tmall's transaction amount rankings during this year's 618 period. It ranked fifth last year, but this year it topped the relevant category ahead of The North Face and Decathlon. Kolon Sports also placed 10th in the overall sports-outdoor institutional sector, which combines sports and outdoor brands.
Kolon Sports is a leading Korean outdoor brand launched in 1973. After entering China in 2006, it set up a 50-50 joint venture with China's largest sportswear corporations ANTA Group in 2017, accelerating its push into the Greater China market. In the China business, Kolon Sports handles product planning and design, as well as research and development, while ANTA Group is responsible for local sales, marketing, and distribution network operations to grow the brand.
FILA Holdings Corp. ranked second among sports and sports outdoor brands. The ranking is the same as last year. From third to sixth were Nike, Li-Ning, Lululemon, and ANTA, respectively.
FILA Holdings Corp. was founded in Italy in 1911, but in 2007 Korea unit FILA Korea acquired the global headquarters, transforming it into a sports brand owned by a Korean corporations. Since then, it has expanded in the Chinese market in partnership with ANTA Group. After acquiring the China FILA business at the end of 2009, ANTA Group positioned FILA as a premium sports fashion brand and has been running the local operation.
Gentle Monster also climbed in this year's rankings. Gentle Monster placed fifth in Tmall's watches and eyewear institutional sector last year, but rose two spots to third in the same institutional sector this year. Gentle Monster is a Korean eyewear brand launched in 2011. In China, it has expanded consumer touchpoints by operating flagship stores in major cities such as Shanghai and Beijing, and continues sales online through its official Tmall flagship store.
In the menswear institutional sector, Hazzys, run by LF Corp., ranked third. It climbed three spots from last year (sixth). Hazzys is a Korean traditional casual brand launched in 2000. After entering the Chinese market in 2007 through a partnership with local menswear corporations Baoxiniao Group, it has expanded its presence with a premium casual strategy. Recently, it has increased its number of stores in China to around 600 and has been strengthening its offline premium strategy by opening the global flagship store "Space H Shanghai" in Shanghai's Xintiandi.
MLB, run by F&F, ranked 18th in the sports brand category. The ranking is the same as last year. MLB is a brand created after F&F in 1999 became the first in the world to obtain apparel licensing rights from Major League Baseball. Its signature products include ball caps featuring Major League team logos, and it entered China in 2020.
China's fashion market is one Korean brands can ill afford to miss, given its strong growth potential. Boston Consulting Group (BCG) projected that China's footwear and apparel market will reach about 3.4 trillion yuan (about 776 trillion won) by 2030.
KOTRA's Shanghai Trade Center said, "With the rapid development of e-commerce and social networks, Chinese consumers' awareness of fashion trends has improved, especially among the younger generation, naturally boosting related spending," adding, "In particular, consumers' interest in fashion brands with a unique identity is growing."