CreatripTeam

South Korean fashion brands are expanding into Europe to overcome slow domestic demand. Matting Kim (마뗑킴) is building offline distribution in Eastern Europe through multi-brand shop ‘Scandal’ in Bulgaria and plans further expansion into the Czech Republic and the Balkans, focusing on edited-shop channels and best-selling product lines. Gentle Monster has set up a Paris subsidiary and opened stores in Milan and the Marais (a trendy Paris neighborhood), while Hansome (한섬) runs a pop-up at La Samaritaine and will open SYSTEM HOMME at Galeries Lafayette, backed by a global design and planning team and a Europe-focused line ‘Time Paris’ (타임 파리). The push abroad is driven by weak domestic retail clothing sales, prompting brands to seek growth in European and Southeast Asian markets.