IRKOM Brief

In addition to saturation due to the market's rapid growth, the Korean leisure market, suffering from severe sluggish domestic demand due to the variable COVID-19, is showing growth again and drawing attention. Since COVID-19, interest in health has increased, and the company has actively promoted business diversification and overseas expansion as factors for the growth of Korean leisure brands.

According to recent overseas market news published by KOTRA, "Japan,  K-beauty, and  K-food  are next in line with K-Athleisure Brands?"  Korean leisure brands such as Andar and Xexymix show high growth rates as they enter the  Japanese market. Xexymix entered the Japanese market by establishing a Japanese corporation in 2019, and after entering Rakuten in 2020, it entered a large shopping mall in 2021; it currently operates more than 110 online and offline stores. Andar also launched a Japanese online store in 2022, and in February 2024, it opened a pop-up store at Hankyu Department Store in Osaka. Although it is still before the official store opening, it seems that it has successfully entered the market, with cumulative sales exceeding 12 billion won with only pop-up stores.

 

[Source: Andar Japan Homepage]

 

Although foreign brands such as Lululemon and Danskin still hold a high share,  Korean leisure brands accelerate their pace and growth rate by actively utilizing Korean  Wave stars and ambassadors and leggings tailored to  Asian body types. Experts say that one of the popular factors of Korean athleisure brands is that Korean athleisure looks have become popular among Hallyu fans by posting pictures of K-pop idols and models doing device pilates on social media. Moreover,  while existing foreign brands focus on yoga or Pilates,  Korean leisure brands have introduced comfortable everyday clothes or expanded them to various categories, such as  golf,  tennis, and swimming, which can also be seen as popular factors.

 

[Source: Xexymix Singapore  homepage]

 

Although it is currently increasing the number of stores in  Asia, such as Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, and China, Andar is a latecomer compared to Xeximix. Still, it is expected to grow at a higher level as it is also pushing to enter the Australian and European markets.