Gentle Monster Sunglasses Took The Korean Wave To The Top.

In 2011, Seoul, South Korea, was full of brands that mimic Warby Parker: the way of operation is like Warby, advertising is like Warby, and sales way is also like Warby.

They also imitated the hot brand emerging brand to face the consumer and glasses buying one to one mode, drawing heavily on their visual characteristics and trying to get a slice of the Warby Parker's eyeglass market.

Many of these brands are located outside the United States of Warby Parker.

Many companies still operate today, including Mercy Would in Germany, Franc Nobel in Indonesia, and Bailey Nelson in Australian companies.

In 2012, 1 years after the establishment of Warby Parker, Bailey Nelson was founded and exported to Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

Hankook Kim, founder and chief executive officer of Gentle Monster, also wants to replicate Warby Parker.

Hankook Kim, in 2011, also runs an English training organization called Camp Korea in Seoul.

Jae W Oh, an entrepreneur with the agency, appreciated him very much.

"He said," take some money out, and I'll invest for you, "Kim recalls." when I first started to focus on the spectacle industry and started doing market research, I found that the industry was tightly controlled by the trade unions, and people would not explore this as an art form. "

Of course he also found Warby Parker.

"This brand is really getting bigger and bigger.

At that time, every company introduced new ideas to provide free and easy services such as free auditions and free replacement, "he said." this is a trend. "

Despite learning from the experience of customer service from Warby Parker, Kim soon realized that her Gentle Monster should never stay in the "copycat version of Warby Parker".

Asian consumers have a desire that is completely different from Western consumers but is hard to satisfy: super, super glasses.

"In Asia, it is the greatest compliment to praise other people's face," Kim said. "Super glasses can show a small face and not many competitors."

Large size mirrors plus low nose adapts to the facial features of Asian people ("glasses always consider Westerners' facial features") means that the Asian spectacle market has matured to meet another different "dark horse product".

With the support of Oh, Kim soon discovered that Daegu, the fourth largest city in Korea, was once the manufacturing center of the eyewear giant Luxottica, which was later pferred to China.

"A lot of talented people are still there," he said.

In 2012, with nearly $100 thousand in funding, Kim bought a Korean factory and a Chinese factory specializing in the manufacture of cellulose acetate frames, which is illegal in South Korea.

"With their own factories, they can make high-quality products at cheaper prices and control shipments," he added.

At the same time, Kim also began to develop Gentle Monster's personality and aesthetics.

Its design looks closer to Acne than to Warby Parker, such as a gold etch rack that is almost thick with the bottom of a glass bottle.

Cat eye shaped titanium frame.

The design has a sense of strangeness, which sells for $200, and the more complex design is $500.

The experience of physical retail stores is unique.

"I hope my product looks almost the same as exhibits," Kim said.

The brand name card has also become the concept of store.

For example, in the flagship store, which is located on the 3 storey building near Hongdae, Seoul, the first floor space is named Quantum Project, which changes the store device every 25 days.

The Daydream Oasis recently sculpted the swimming pool with egg shaped material, and the fan blows silver cloth to simulate the rolling waves.

Before that, the "The Eater", a mechanical head at the table, was greedy for a colorful dish.

The artistic retail way has won a large number of layout and design blog reports for Gentle Monster, but in the end, the star has been implanted in the brand to ensure the quality of the brand, and is just catching up with the newly emerging K-pop Korean pop culture as a convenient global phenomenon.

(Psy released "Jiangnan Style" video on YouTube in July 2012, and watched more than 2 billion 600 million times.

From 2013 to 2014, Korean pop star Gianna Jun also wore Gentle Monster glasses in the popular Korean drama "you from the stars".

Gentle Monster is almost as fast as the Jiangnan Style.

As of 2014, the company's revenue reached US $40 million, and it also operated wholesale and direct retail businesses, mainly for Korea.

Field.

In 2015, this figure has increased by two times, or about 160 million dollars.

In 2016, the revenue of Gentle Monster is estimated to be about $250 million. Currently, the brand has 10 retail outlets facing consumers: 7 in Korea, 1 in Beijing, 1 in Hongkong and 1 in New York, and will open 1 stores in Shanghai and Losangeles respectively.

70% business is direct retail, and 30% comes from wholesale partnership.

The prospect of brand development is closely related to overseas expansion.

It is currently being sold in more than 450 shops such as Harvey Nichols and Nordstrom.

Kim soon realized that the West was also eager to find customers with unique design and low nose glasses, and hired Won Lee, a Korean brand consultant living in New York, to become Gentle Monster's chief executive of the United States.

In February 2016, Gentle Monster opened its first store in SoHo Grand, New York.

The store has a large and deep cave space, covering an area of 500 square feet, designed by the Rafael de C rdenas, the hot architect, but the brand used to be more customary in designing the store, which is also true.

"We don't know much about building laws and regulations in the United States," Lee said. "In Korea, it's simpler and easier, and the cost is much lower."

The next store in Gentle will be in Losangeles. It will be opened in the downtown area (DTLA) at the end of 2016, covering an area of 11 thousand square feet, which is more consistent with the Asian dreamshop style in Monster.

The brand is talking about the shops in Miami and Dallas, and plans to open 10 new stores in the western United States and Europe by 2019.

Gentle Monster said that even if the store opened to the United States, the goal is still eager to attract the "millennial generation" of Asia.

"Students at the New York Institute of fashion technology and New York University will be an important part of this consumer group," Lee said.

But the long-term goal is undoubtedly to reach a wider audience.

This means that brand focus is no longer a star implant.

Lee said that letting Kendall Jenner or Gigi Hadid wear Gentle Monster glasses out of the street does not necessarily bring sales up: "Asian consumers are very influenced by star dressing, but I am not sure in the United States."

Kim said that the current brand strategy is actually to ease the link between Gentle Monster and K-pop, even in Asia.

"It's good for these stars to wear our glasses, but there's something wrong with the brand," he said. "For example, if you go to see our Instagram now, you won't see too many stars."

Indeed, perhaps the driving force behind the development of Gentle Monster in the US or elsewhere will still be the unique sense of design, which makes people no longer regard it as a "cottage brand" from the beginning.

After all, all other products are beginning to "commercialize".

It is worth noting that Warby Parker is now offering low nose products.

Perhaps from the perspective of Kim's aggressive expansion, it is no surprise that his ambition is far more than eyeglasses.

"Gentle Monster started by making glasses, but the goal is to become a subversive creative company," he said. "Brand is the real genius tool."