Supertrain CEO Kim Yun-kyung (left) speaks at a press conference held at the ‘Hello Kitty by Wack’ pop-up store on Garosu-gil, Sinsa-dong, Seoul on the 12th. [사진=김다이 기자]
Kolon FnC’s contemporary performance golf wear ‘WAAC’ introduced a collaborative collection with Hello Kitty as the first step since it spun off as a corporation called Supertrain earlier this month to leap forward as a global brand.
Supertrain CEO Kim Yun-kyung opened the ‘Hello Kitty by Wack’ pop-up store on Garosu-gil, Sinsa-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul on the 12th and said, “Hello Kitty is a brand with a strong fandom in Japan, and it is the first since the spin-off to raise awareness and strengthen character to communicate with customers. We started collaborating,” he said.
Wak has recently emerged as a popular brand among young golfers in their 2030s. By using the signature character ‘Waki’, which is the image of a bad boy, the brand concept is solidified, and designs that did not exist before, such as jogger pants and jumpsuits, were brought to golf wear.
In addition, thanks to the activation of the golf wear market due to the spread of Corona 19 last year, Wack sales last year increased by 80% compared to the previous year to 40.7 billion won. The sales target for this year is 60 billion won or more, and the initial target growth rate of 30% was further adjusted to more than 50%.
A view of the Hello Kitty pop-up store in Garosu-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul. [사진=코오롱FnC]
Accordingly, Kolon FnC separated Wak as a subsidiary and appointed CEO Kim Yun-kyung, a former professional golfer of the Korea Women’s Professional Golf (KLPGA) tour, as the corporation’s representative. CEO Kim led WACK as the marketing manager at the time of the launch of WACK in 2016.
Wack entered the Japanese market in 2019 and is developing its business in earnest, and signed a wholesale contract with China’s Active Leisure International. In the US market, in April, it started selling at 8 stores in the US in partnership with WGS (Worldwide Golf Shop), a professional golf distribution company.
CEO Kim said, “Wack is developing the brand according to two words, ‘contemporary’ and ‘performance’, such as using pop art and vivid colors to show clothes that are differentiated from other companies. We are also focusing our efforts on R&D (research and development) to bring out the fashionableness of calligraphy.”
He continued, “As the young golf population is increasing and people in their 40s and 50s who have stopped playing golf reappear, I think the prospect of the golf wear market is bright in the mid- to long-term.” We plan to expand it to
Meanwhile, the pop-up store, which runs from the 12th to the 7th of June, is decorated with the theme of ‘Come fly with WAACKY and Hello Kitty’. A photo zone reminiscent of an airport and travel, such as a check-in monitor, aircraft interior design, and luggage belt display, is organized, and drinks made from branding-limited menus are provided at the cafe on the first floor. On the second floor, you can see the main products that Wack and Hello Kitty collaborated on.
- reporter information
- Dai Kim
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