Tag: Blackpink

  • Salomon Expands Womens Footwear Push Following Jisoo Seoul Campaign

    Salomon Expands Womens Footwear Push Following Jisoo Seoul Campaign

    Salomon released a collaborative sneaker capsule with FP Movement on Monday priced up to $185. The launch accelerates its push to win female consumers across global and Asian markets.

    Direct-to-consumer sales to women rose 10 percentage points over the past two years. They now account for roughly 45 percent of direct revenue, according to Amer Sports disclosures.

    The capsule reworks Salomon’s XT-6 and XT-Whisper silhouettes in gradient colorways. The XT-6 incorporates pink, mint, and ivory tones with green accents. Meanwhile, the XT-Whisper blends coral, blush, and peach alongside purple and blue details across its SensiFit structure. Pricing runs between $145 and $185 across select Salomon and FP Movement retail stores and e-commerce channels.

    Building Out Womens Technical Footwear

    Amer Sports has made expanding Salomon’s female audience a core pillar of its revenue strategy. Management outlined the plan during an investor day presentation in September. Targeted product design, specific color palettes, and focused design collaborations are expanding the French label’s footprint beyond its traditional core of male trail runners.

    Kristof Cavazzana, vice president of product and experience at Salomon, pointed to multi-season design partnerships like previous work with Sandy Liang as crucial drivers for broadening market reach. The brand uses these capsules to bridge mountain sports heritage with everyday lifestyle demand in major metropolitan centers.

    For retailers and multi-brand distributors throughout the Asia-Pacific region, the shift recalibrates shelf space allocation. Salomon has transitioned from a niche technical outdoor label into a mainstream lifestyle competitor. It now challenges established athletic giants for premium display space in top shopping malls across Seoul, Tokyo, and Shanghai.

    Asian Demand and Cultural Alignment

    Operational risk sits in maintaining technical credibility while chasing fast-moving fashion trends. Functional outdoor brands that lean heavily into trend-driven colorways risk alienating core athletes and face rapid product life cycles. Salomon hedges this risk by keeping its proprietary sole units, chassis systems, and weather-resistant membranes fully intact across all lifestyle releases.

    Competition in technical outdoor footwear has intensified across Asian gateway cities. Competing labels are fighting for the same urban consumers who combine weekend trail activities with commuter sportswear. Salomon’s conversion rates depend on maintaining authentic performance specifications while delivering softer aesthetic executions.

    Campaign Precedents in Seoul

    The FP Movement capsule follows Salomon’s major visual campaign titled In The Open, which debuted in late September starring Blackpink member Jisoo. Shot across parks, trails, and urban streets in Seoul under creative director Heikki Salonen, the campaign presented the Fall/Winter 2026 footwear range against South Korean landscapes.

    Jisoo formalized her global ambassadorship in May, making this visual rollout her first major project with the label. The campaign showed technical footwear built for mixed environments, including the XT-6 Protective, the XT-Whisper Gore-Tex, and the XT-4 OG Gore-Tex.

    Valerie Loh, senior vice president of brand and marketing at Salomon, noted that female participation in direct sales channels climbed from 35 percent to roughly 45 percent during the two-year repositioning period.

    Next Steps on the Product Calendar

    The wider Fall/Winter 2026 collection featured in the Seoul campaign goes on sale globally on October 7 through Salomon’s direct website and wholesale network. Amer Sports management will track whether conversion rates among female shoppers keep rising as these seasonal styles reach physical stores across Asia and North America.

  • South Korean K-pop merchandise sales surge to US$132 million

    South Korean K-pop merchandise sales surge to US$132 million

    South Korea’s K-pop merchandise market is booming, reaching KRW 150 billion (US$132 million) last year.

    Led by the recent global fame of BTS, K-pop’s popularity has expanded far and wide, and a growing number of fans are enthusiastically spend their time and money collecting even the smallest souvenirs that remind them of their favorite pop stars.

    Mugs, notebooks, pens, bags, T-shirts, tumblers and slippers with photos of BTS, EXO, Blackpink, Twice and the like all stir K-pop fans’ desire to be closer to the performers they like the most.

    “I spent more than 1 million won ($881) buying BTS merchandise last year,” one BTS fan told Yonhap, requesting anonymity. “Sometimes even I think it’s a bit excessive, but it’s one of my big hobbies.”

    According to the latest data from the Korea Creative Content Agency (KCCA), the total sales of the South Korean music industry reached 2.87 trillion won in the first half of last year, up 9.2 per cent from a year earlier.

    K-pop merchandise sales of 150 billion won last year alone includes privately created items and pirated goods.

    “Fans with huge loyalty to their singers buy albums and goods together. Many of them create unofficial goods too,” said Sung Mi-kyoung, a senior researcher at the KCCA. “The idol culture started to explode in the latter half of 2017 on the back of the rising global popularity of BTS. Estimates of 150 billion won in sales are not groundless.”

    She said the three leading music labels — SM Entertainment, JYP Entertainment Corp. and YG Entertainment Inc. — have already acknowledged the potential of the goods market and started to rack up revenues there.

    According to their regulatory filings, the three listed companies’ combined sales of albums and digital music content reached 76.69 billion won in the first half of 2018.

    And they posted a combined 105.44 trillion won in sales from K-pop merchandise, royalties and other fees over the cited period.

    YG alone earned 76.91 billion won in royalties and brand-related sales as the company runs fashion and cosmetics subsidiaries using artist brands like Big Bang, iKon and Blackpink.

    SM, which manages Exo, Shinee and Super Junior, runs its official merchandise shops SUM Market and SMTown Gift shop in southern Seoul, selling collaborative products combined with its artists’ brands.

    “It has been a minor culture among young fans of K-pop,” said Sung. “But from now on, its huge potential will attract the entire entertainment industry to focus on this market.”

    She said 50 per cent of South Korean teenagers have bought a K-pop item at least once.

    “These young teens who are very willing and familiar with spending money on goods related to their idols will grow up and have greater purchasing power when they become 30-somethings or 40-somethings.”

    Against this backdrop, the K-pop market is broadening into a comprehensive content industry linked with performance, fashion, food, tourism and even manufacturing.

    Tens of money-making goods and events can be derived from a picture of a K-pop singer, she noted.

    “People do not only consume music to listen to but also enjoy such entertainment in other forms. The music industry now comes with concerts, merchandise and intellectual property,” the KCCA expert said. “I hope the public sector will fine-tune the legal issues involving intellectual rights to level the playing field and foster the content industry further.”

  • Blackpink is now Shopee brand ambassador

    Blackpink is now Shopee brand ambassador

    Popular all-girl K-pop group Blackpink has been appointed Shopee’s first regional brand ambassador. The appointment is timed to coincide with Shopee’s 12.12 birthday sale, which has embarked on a two week promotional campaign. The planned deals include discounts of up to 80 per cent for the one-day-only promotion.

    To draw attention to the sale day, Blackpink have released a dedicated shopee commercial currently available for viewing on YouTube.

    The promotion coincides with the launch of Korean entertainment firm YG Group’s official shop on the platform across five Shopee markets, including Singapore.

    K-pop group Blackpink was founded in 2016 and within just two years has built a strong reputation for its unique vocals and the group members’ personalities. Hailed by Billboard as the best-charting female Korean act in history, Blackpink has established prominence with record-breaking releases, including the single Ddu-Du Ddu-Du and albums Square One, Square Two and their most recent mini-album, Square Up.