Retail News CRM

Tag: Gentle Monster

  • Gentle Monster invests $15 million in Chinese AR startup

    Gentle Monster invests $15 million in Chinese AR startup

    Augmented reality headsets have been around for years, but none of the market players has really expanded beyond the techy demographic and broken into the mainstream. An AR startup hopes to change that by partnering with an eyewear fashion brand.

    Nreal, the well-funded Chinese AR headset maker that’s been making aggressive global expansion, said Thursday that it has raised $15 million from Korean sunglasses brand Gentle Monster’s parent company, IICOMBINED.

    The investment, which came just five months after its $60 million Series C extension, boosts its total raised to $240 million since its inception in 2017.

    The fresh capital will enable Nreal to accelerate its global expansion and double down on the company’s consumer business in the U.S., the company said.

    Neither Nreal nor Gentle Monster said much about how they might work together, but it’s almost certain that the single-investor capital infusion marks a step toward a strategic partnership. It won’t be surprising that Nreal’s glasses — aimed to be fashionable and lightweight from the outset — would hit the shelves of Gentle Master’s global retail stores someday.

    Indeed, Nreal’s co-founder Peng Jin said the firm’s goal for the next twelve months is to “scale and reach more audiences and aggressively grow adoption for AR technology starting with our latest AR glasses, Nreal Air.”

    Nreal has already carved out a global distribution network, much of it through its enterprise partners like Qualcomm and LG, in countries including the U.S., U.K., Japan, South Korea, Spain and Germany. It only debuted in China, where it’s based, in August.

    Nreal’s demand is currently the highest in the U.S., Japan and Korea, though the company expects China to grow soon to be one of its top markets.

    Earlier this week, Nreal unveiled an array of its products, including AR glasses such as Nreal Air and Nreal X (Chinese version) and an AR adapter for Apple devices in its home market.

    “Fashion and design will be important aspects in the future development of AR glasses as we continue to expand the sector’s consumer base,” said Jin. “As such, having Gentle Monster as our investor will open up interesting opportunities not just for Nreal, but also for the wider AR industry as a whole.”

    Gentle Monster, which entered China in 2016 and partnered with Huawei in 2019 to make smart glasses, opened its seventeenth store in Beijing in early August for further expansion in China.

    “This investment is exciting for the combination and exploration of the boundary of fashion and tech,” said co-founder of Gentle Monster and CEO of IICOMBINED Hankook Kim. “We will leverage both parties’ strength and make joint efforts to create more possibilities.”

  • Gentle Monster opens new China flagships in Beijing, Qingdao

    Gentle Monster opens new China flagships in Beijing, Qingdao

    GENTLE MONSTER announced the largest flagship store in the world will open on August 4th in Beijing Taikoo Li Sanlitun. “DATAIZED FUTURE” serves as the visual narrative theme for the flagship store. As mankind inhibits a fragmented and dislocated near future, visitors are allowed to express free movement, jumping across time and space. As the store relocates from the Taikoo Li Sanlitun North District to the South District, taking up a landmark location in the commercial area, the latest GENTLE MONSTER retail creation marks the brand’s 360-degree upgrade into the world’s largest mono-brand eyewear store in the world.

    The upgraded GENTLE MONSTER Beijing Taikoo Li Sanlitun flagship store presents multi-scale installations, images, and videos that occupy the space from the façade to the third floor. Together, they set in motion a series of static replacements and dynamic contrasts, creating subtle harmony through contrasting colors and materials. The GENTLE MONSTER Beijing Taikoo Li Sanlitun flagship store provides twice the number of styles and products as other stores. The flagship store will offer free repair services for the first time in the Northern China market. Special collaborations or product will also be launched here before any other stores. The third floor is home to only optical products, where shoppers can find professional optometrists in the exclusive optometry area.

    In 2016, GENTLE MONSTER opened its first-ever store in the China market in Beijing Taikoo Li Sanlitun North District. Its “Future Retail” proposition redefined the brick-and-mortar retail experience and has continued to reimage the future of retail. The brand quickly launched 17 flagship stores in 14 cities across China. In collaboration with high-end Beijing luxury department store SKP, GENTLE MONSTER curated the SKP-S department store, last year, it also brought the HAUS SHANGHAI concept to the storied Huaihai Road. As the brand’s launchpad in the China market, GENTLE MONSTER’s move to the South District, occupying the most prominent entrance space of Taikoo Li Sanlitun, gave the brand a chance to push further the expressive nature of retail art, enabling the store to become a new landmark for Taikoo Li Sanlitun.

    Occupying three stories and boosting more than 1,330 square meters, GENTLE MONSTER’s latest project marks the brand’s most prominent move in the China market. GENTLE MONSTER dove deeper into its unique DNA, disrupting conventional retail methodologies that prioritize efficiency and function. With “Future Retail,” GENTLE MONSTER offered a powerful retail experience by simultaneously presenting contrasting emotions, amplifying the brand’s singular worldview. For the first time in GENTLE MONSTER retail history, interior design extends to the exterior façade of the glass building, breaking free of physical boundaries.

    The opening of GENTLE MONSTER Beijing Taikoo Li Sanlitun flagship store marks the brand’s revolutionary move to unleash creative energy like never before. Expansive artistic vision and fresh retail experiences celebrate the brand’s continued pursuit to inspire and ignite the new generation of shoppers.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Gentle Monster opens Haus Shanghai

    Gentle Monster opens Haus Shanghai

    Luxury eyewear label Gentle Monster has unveiled the design of its first Haus concept store outside South Korea in Shanghai, the world’s largest Gentle Monster store.

    The launch of the Shanghai store follows the opening of Haus Dosan in Seoul earlier this year, opening chapter two of the Haus project. Featuring a ‘Future Retail’ theme, the four-story Haus Shanghai houses fragrance brand Tamburins’ first physical store in China and dessert brand Nudake.

    “Haus Shanghai provides more than a commercial experience,” Gentle Monster said in a statement. “By inciting emotional provocation in visitors, Haus aims to deliver an unprecedented cultural experience.”

    Gentle Monster combines retail experiences, pop-ups, and art exhibitions inside the 3270sqm retail space. Haus Shanghai’s first floor houses the Nudake store, where visitors can find a variety of artistic desserts. Gentle Monster’s signature six-legged walking robot, The Probe, is located at the centre of the floor alongside kinetic horses, “capturing Nudake’s spirit of experimentation and fantasy”. Visitors can also find various forms of collaged media art and aesthetic furniture here.

    The second floor, Gentle Monster’s largest retail space, is designed under the theme ‘Circulation’ with pliant art pieces cutting through the centre, forcing an unexpected flow of traffic inside the space.

    Meanwhile, the third floor presents a large exhibition space designed for media art exhibitions and collaboration pop-ups. At the heart of the space, a robotic face called ‘The Giant’ is located alongside sculptures and installations, depicting the theme ‘The Giant Who Arrived at the Bird Village’.

    China’s first Tamburins flagship store is situated on Haus Shanghai’s top floor, “expressing elegance and individuality through the delicate balance of spatial elements”. The space is highlighted by a wall art installation ‘Twig’ covered in tree branches, illustrating “the intersection of luxury and rawness through the combination of contrasting materials”.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Gentle Monster opens another flagship store

    Gentle Monster opens another flagship store

    South Korean luxury eyewear brand Gentle Monster has unveiled its latest themed store in Starfield Hanam, Seoul.

    Dubbed ‘Self Similarity’, the theme reinterprets the mathematical concept through visual and spatial elements. The Starfield Hanam storehouses various artwork, images, and installations representing “the infinite possibility of ‘expansion’” through repeating geometric structures, such as fractals, Mandelbrot sets, and Julia sets.

    The newly opened flagship features The Probe, the brand’s six-legged walking robot which can also be seen in the Haus Dosan outlet.

    “The kinetic installations located at the facade, repeatedly expanding and contracting, and artwork that expresses infinite proliferation show Gentle Monster’s unique and artistic perspective on the concept of self-similarity,” the company described.

    Meanwhile, Gentle Monster chose Starfield Hanam to land Nudake’s second store in South Korea, offering a range of artistic desserts.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Gentle Monster’s newest store Haus Dosan took a year to create

    Gentle Monster’s newest store Haus Dosan took a year to create

    Gentle Monster has launched Haus Dosan, a new retail concept featuring its dessert brand Nudake and cosmetic label Tamburins.

    Located at Dosan Park, the store spans five stories, housing Nudake’s first flagship store in South Korea. Named ‘Haus 0 10 10 10 1’, the number ‘01’ is derived from quantum mechanics, representing “the future-forward direction”, whereas ‘Haus’ is a metaphorical description of the future retail.

    Haus Dosan is the eyewear brand’s first project of many more to come under the theme of ‘Unopened:Future”.

    The first floor houses a gigantic structure in the centre, a collaborative artwork with Frederik Heyman, which creates “a bizarre scene that no one has seen before and represents Gentle Monster’s bold and daring philosophy”. Inspired by the installation, an exclusive soundtrack created by Venezuelan artist Arca will be played throughout the first to the third floor of the store.

    The second floor of the building, dedicated to Gentle Monster’s optical eyewear, is designed under the concept of minimalism and moderation, featuring a media installation by Jonas Lindstroem showing video artwork ‘Truth or Dare’.

    Haus Dosan’s third floor, which displays sunglasses range, houses The Probe, a six-legged walking robot made by Gentle Monster’s own robot lab after a year of research.

    The upper-floor is home to Tamburins’ second flagship store, showing art pieces by artists such as Chulan Kwak, Mercedes Vicente and Casper Kang. Meanwhile, Nudake’s first flagship store is located on the B1 floor, offering an array of artistic desserts.

    Starting with Haus Dosan, Gentle Monster aims to launch a larger scale ‘Haus Shanghai’ this May.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Gentle Monster shows its flagship concept in Shenyang

    Gentle Monster shows its flagship concept in Shenyang

    Gentle Monster has unveiled another flagship concept in Shenyang, China after launching the “Memory” theme in Hangzhou last month.

    Themed “New Normal”, the Korean eyewear retailer’s new store in Shenyang is inspired by the idea of how AI will be “deeply embedded in human life.” The story behind the new concept, according to the company, is “the upcoming future where AI is no longer a strange concept, but a ‘New Normal’.”

    When entering the store, visitors will see a sculpted “AI shepherd”, keeping an eye over his sheep.

    “With more data collection, this AI shepherd is able to nurture the herd with more care than the past generations,” Gentle Monster explained. “The space past him exhibits the advanced technology of monitoring devices used to detect potential danger to guard the sheep.”

    Several artworks are featured on the store’s walls and floors. The Gentle Monster Shenyang store also houses a lion head sculpture in gold and dark blue-grey colors.

    “The Gentle Monster Shenyang store embodies the brand’s evolving identity, and visitors will be able to experience the future world where the ‘New Normal’ dominates the norm,” the company said.

    The store extends the technology theme of Gentle Monster’s new flagships. The Hangzhou store ‘Memory’ explores the concept of future technology restoring lost memories.

    Lees ook:

  • Gentle Monster in Hangzhou portrays an old woman restoring her memory

    Gentle Monster in Hangzhou portrays an old woman restoring her memory

    In China, Gentle Monster has unveiled its new Hangzhou flagship concept called ‘Memory’ – yet another amazing avant-garde installation-meets-retail space.

    The South Korean eyewear label explains the story behind the ‘Memory’ concept is the ideal of future technology that can restore lost memories.

    When entering the store, visitors will see a sculpture of an elderly woman sitting on the bench and thinking about her past. The brand described her as “an elderly woman with a vague memory rekindles with her friend the donkey from her childhood through the help of the memory restoration device”.

    Located near the woman is a display area resembling a barn, where Gentle Monster’s eyewear collections can be found.

    The flagship store houses a futuristic machine with two donkeys inside, visualizing how technology restores the woman’s childhood memories.

    “The art installations with surreal and dream-like beauty portray the woman’s time and memory,” Gentle Monster said in a statement. “This space stimulates one to think of the true meaning of memory and the perpetuity of remembrance.”

    Earlier this week, the luxury eyewear brand opened a new pop-up space above its Shanghai flagship store in collaboration with Chinese artist Kris Wu, featuring architecture design inspired by a parking lot layout.

    Lees ook:

  • Gentle Monster unfolds Hongdae flagship with ‘Sacrifice’ theme

    Gentle Monster unfolds Hongdae flagship with ‘Sacrifice’ theme

    Gentle Monster has unveiled its new Hongdae flagship with a religious-inspired design theme it calls ‘Sacrifice’.

    “The new theme introduces the sacred story of the Earth God and the sacrificial rituals that are offered to him,” the company said.

    The first floor houses a grand gray statue holding a white sphere which is described as the ‘God’s Eye’. Adjacent to the statue is a “kinetic” object representing the brand philosophy of Gentle Monster which is “constantly observing and studying the world”.

    A giant dark horse, which the company named as “a sacrifice to God”, is situated in the center of the second floor.

    Under the theme of “craftsmanship”, the third floor features “eye-capturing offerings to the God” and relief-sculptures which exemplifies the brand’s story. Gentle Monster’s eyewear collections can be found on this floor.

  • Gentle Monster launching kids collection

    Gentle Monster launching kids collection

    Gentle Monster Kids makes its debut in Singapore at its Marina Bay Sands flagship.

    Inspired by young creators and “little kids with big dreams”, the collection includes six designs: Chapssal, Eastmoon, Jackbye, Newturtle, Peggy, and Ribbon.

    The Chapssal tortoise cat-eye frames feature narrow, UV protection lenses with raised corners, etched with the Gentle Monster logo.

    These designs are shrunken versions of the brand’s signature pieces from its 2019 range, and are made through a campaign that features Coco Pink Princess, an eight-year-old Instagram style icon from Japan.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Gentle Monster, Huawei team up over smart eyewear

    Gentle Monster, Huawei team up over smart eyewear

    South Korean eyewear label Gentle Monster has partnered with Chinese tech giant Huawei to produced connected eyewear.

    The networked eyeglass frames allow wearers to answer calls without picking up their phone, and feature antennae, noise-reduction microphones and speakers tucked behind the ear.

    “Smart eyewear is different than the smart phone or the smart watch,” said Gentle Monster co founder and CEO Hankook Kim. “The smart eyewear is on our face … It is normal but actually it is slightly different. We believe the small difference changes everything.”

    The label, known for its trendy and futuristic individualised store designs, has 18 locations selling both futuristic and more conservative eyewear.

    “If you want to see how it looks on normal people, you can look at me,” said Kim.

    “I really appreciate Huawei because they realise that eyewear comes first and smart comes later,” he added.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Gentle Monster opens second store in Singapore

    Gentle Monster opens second store in Singapore

    South Korean eyewear brand Gentle Monster has opened a second store in Singapore at Marina Bay Sands. The launch, coming more than a year since the opening of Gentle Monster’s first store in Southeast Asia at Ion Orchard, is part of the brand’s “13” project. According to the brand, the project is “based on a story of an extreme ecological change the Earth would have to endure in the future due to a tilt of its axis, caused by the Moon being pushed farther away from planet Earth.”

    The concept serves as a metaphor to describe modern-day people who seem “obsessed and overwhelmed by the invalid information they receive daily.”

    To celebrate the opening of the new location, Gentle Monster has teamed up with fashion blogger Yoyo Cao to come up with a special edition of the brand’s popular Cobalt sunglasses model. The limited edition eyewear features a trendy tear drop-shaped frame along with details such as a twisted bridge and an inner template engraved with the word “Yoyokulala”.

    The Gentle Monster x Yoyokulala eyewear will retail at S$368.

    Find out the interior of the store below (5 images) :

  • Gentle Monster starts its European expansion

    Gentle Monster starts its European expansion

    South Korean eyewear brand Gentle Monster began the first phase of a major European expansion plan when it opened a 450 sq m store in the heart of London’s West End.

    Celebrating the opening at a party, the company’s UK and Europe managing director, Gary Bott, also talked about its Selfridges concession opening Monday and detailed plans for further stores in the EMEA region, including Paris and Dubai.

    The company is riding an eyewear wave in which sunglasses and frames are one of the most dynamic growth categories in the fashion sector at present.

    And that growth means the category is seeing plenty of style and technology innovation, as well as offering opportunities for brands with a strong point of difference to expand into new markets.

    Gentle Monster is known for its unusual frame designs and its powerful creative collaborations and that’s a compelling USP.

    It needs to be compelling too as it’s in a location with plenty of competition. The flagship opening, on Argyll Street, puts it in a prime retail and tourist spot (it’s a stone’s throw away from Liberty and is exactly opposite the London Palladium.) And the Selfridges concession sees it taking its place as one of the anchor brands in the latest phase of the Accessories hall.

    Its UK (and later on, its European) expansion comes on the back of news last September that L Catterton Asia invested in IICombined, the owner and operator of the brand.

    Gentle Monster had been founded in 2011 by Jay Oh and Hankook Kim, and expanded steadily in recent years, although its standalone store numbers had only just edged into double-digits by last autumn. However, the pace has speeded up in recent months with the company having 17 stores before the London opening.

    The faster opening pace will be kept up from now as the company targets the EMEA region, with Gary Bott telling Fashion Network that the brand will open six new stores later this year and into 2019. “We’re looking at Paris first and then Dubai,” Bott said, adding that London was the choice for the first European location because it’s “a platform into Europe.”

    The permanent Selfridges location comes after the company opened a pop-up at The Corner Shop there on June 4 with Bott adding that the temporary store gave the brand valuable experience of the London market.

    Bott said “the feedback and sales especially have gone beyond our expectations. We’ve doubled effectively what we hoped we’d do.”

    The new Argyll Street location underlines just why the brand is so appealing to retailers such as Selfridges as it concentrates on the retail experience as much as the products. Bott said: “We are very much focused on creating a sensory experience for the customer, even down to the individual fragrance for each of our flagship stores.”

    With this in mind, the London flagship follows a completely different design scheme to the brand’s other stores and ‘experience’ really is at the heart of the layout. The firm’s in-house robotic’s team created the concept that mixes aliens with martial arts, focusing more on the visual appeal of Kung Fu than on its ability to cause serious physical damage. The idea is that extra-terrestrials were “captivated by the beauty of Kung Fu, presented in the most unexpected client point-of-view throughout the two floors.”

    Of course, we don’t get aliens or martial artists at the much smaller Selfridges store but experience and a striking visual impact are no less priorities there. An ‘active volcano’ and another robotic installation certainly add an interesting element to the Accessories hall.

    As you can see, robotics really makes up a key part of the company’s store strategy and so it’s no surprise that it invested in a robotics factory in Korea.

    The robotics specialists there work in cooperation with the Gentle Monster store designers with Bott adding that “everything’s half assembled in HQ. And then it travels around the world to whatever destination we’re opening up in our flagships stores, and then our spatial design teams fully assemble everything on site.”

  • Gentle Monster makes debut in London

    Gentle Monster makes debut in London

    South Korean luxury eyewear brand Gentle Monster has opened an eye-catching new store in London.

    The 450sqm store was launched in the city’s West End, representing the initial step in a broad-ranging plan to expand the firm’s business in Europe.

    The new London flagship is enhanced by robotic installations and an “active volcano” described by one fashion scribe as “spectacular”. The firm has previously invested in a South Korean robotics factory.

    Gentle Monster MD Garry Bott said, “We are very much focused on creating a sensory experience for the customer, even down to the individual fragrance for each of our flagship stores.”

    Future stores are expected to open in Paris and Dubai.

    Lees ook:

  • L Catterton Asia, JD.com Invest In Secoo

    L Catterton Asia, JD.com Invest In Secoo

    LVMH-linked L Catterton Asia and JD have jointly invested US$175 million into Asian luxury fashion platform Secoo, via convertible notes.

    L Catterton and JD together will have the right to appoint a director and an observer to Secoo’s board of directors. But in a broader tie-up, Secoo will have access to L Catterton’s network of luxury leaders and strengthen relationships with leading luxury brands in the L Catterton stable, including Pepe Jeans and eyewear brand Gentle Monster.

    “We are excited about this strategic partnership with L Catterton Asia and JD,” said Richard Li, Secoo’s chairman and CEO. “L Catterton is the leading consumer-focused investment firm in the world, and JD is China’s largest retailer and the leading e-commerce giant in China. By establishing relationships with leading partners in the consumer, luxury goods and e-commerce spaces, Secoo is poised to gain invaluable name recognition and further boost the company’s reputation in the international luxury consumer space.

    Through this partnership, Secoo will be able to leverage L Catterton and JD’s operational expertise and vast resources to expand and deepen our market presence not only in China, but across the globe.”

    Shengli Hu, president of JD fashion & lifestyle, said the partnership will help JD enhance its luxury capabilities and provide the best possible luxury shopping experience to consumers in China.

    “Chinese consumers are increasingly discerning about their luxury purchases, demanding more variety and choice than ever. As we look to continue to meet this demand, we see many potential areas for future collaboration with Secoo.”

    Secoo sells a wide collection of authentic, upscale products and lifestyle services on Secoo.com, mobile applications and offline experience centers, offering more than 300,000 SKUs, covering over 3000 global and domestic brands.

    Lees ook:

  • Gentle Monster looks beyond sunglasses

    Gentle Monster looks beyond sunglasses

    Among the foreign luxury brands filling the eyewear section at local duty-free shops and department stores, the Korean-based brand Gentle Monster stands out.

    Getting its initial fame among the Korean public as “Jun Ji-hyun sunglasses” after the actress wore a Gentle Monster product in hit TV series “My Love From the Star” in 2014, the brand is solidifying its place in a market heavily dominated by foreign luxury brands.

    The brand’s founding story is not so typical, as its two co-founders weren’t exactly in love with sunglasses. Originally in English education, they looked into what kind of market they could stand the chance to be profitable.

    “The eyewear market has a long history, but it has not been changing in Korea. It was pretty much the same, controlled by a few major giants who have factories and retail shops,” Jay Oh, one of the two founders, said at an event hosted by the French Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry in central Seoul on 29 May.

    “We thought, if we make something special and unique, people might love us,” he said.

    Oh and Kim Han-kook founded I.I Combined, the owner and operator of Gentle Monster, in 2011. The name stands for the combination of ultimate imagination and interpretation of the world.

    “The brand has a specific customer role model — a gentle monster. We want our customers to look gentle but have great passion and enthusiasm inside,” Oh said. “Our beauty concept is weird beauty.”

    Gentle Monster produces three types of sunglasses, categorized as first-generation, second-generation and third-generation products. Each generation has a different purpose and concept.

    “Third-generation products are hard to wear in real life, but they are attractive on Instagram and to celebrities,” Oh said. “We are developing 50 models every season and 20 of them are in the third generation. We are not really seeing this as profitable but this is fun, a part of our ultimate imagination.”

    “Second generation is a little bit less challenging, fashion leaders can wear this. Most of the sales come from the first-generation products. It is where we see mass customers. But still the third generation is leading the fashion industry,” he said.

    The brand is represented by its unique, artistic flagship stores, which more resemble art exhibitions than stores.

    Oh stressed that flagship stores are not just about selling products. “We are not really making the space to sell something, but to deliver our spirt,” he said about the six branches across the nation and 10 more around the world. While the concept for the stores changes each year, this year’s concept is about the universe and aliens.

    French luxury goods giant LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton has seen the value in the brand’s flagship store strategy. In August, L Catterton Asia, backed by the French giant, invested around 60 billion won (US$53.17 million) in Gentle Monster, becoming the second-biggest shareholder of the firm.

    “Flagships are what Gentle Monster is, it’s a whole ‘starting with experience’ idea. The same product, but the experience and the strategy are different. This is where the future of luxury retail is at. It’s not only about products,” Cho Hyun-ock, president of LVMH Korea, said at the event.

    “The investment is not just to earn money, but to learn from Gentle Monster — the creativity and the innovation,” he added.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook: