Reprinted from: LADYMAX
Original title: Depth | How luxury brands understand the Asian market from the LV Seoul show
When luxury brands continue to return to a market, they should come with a deeper understanding of localization
Author | Drizzie
A magnificent fashion show perfectly predicted the bustling scene of the May Day holiday.
In the past three days, Chinese tourists, Japanese tourists during the Golden Week holiday, and Southeast Asian tourists gathered in Seoul, South Korea, releasing the pent up tourism demand.
At the same time, as South Korea's Labor Day, Children's Day and Buddha's Day come one after another within five weeks, bringing three long weekend holidays from the end of April to the end of May, domestic tourists in South Korea have also promoted local tourism. According to local media reports, more than 80% of the rooms in large chain hotels, including the Westin Josun Hotel in Seoul, Signiel Hotel in Seoul, and Lotte Hotel in Jeju, have been booked.
This is what Louis Vuitton and Seoul are happy to see. On April 29, Louis Vuitton held the 2023 early autumn women's wear series show in Seoul, South Korea, It is a three-dimensional city propaganda film 。
Daxiu is located at the Hanjiang River diving bridge connecting Jiangnan District and Jiangbei District. The Seoul Municipal Government provided strong support for the show, and did not hesitate to let the traffic of the bridge, a key transportation hub in Seoul, be interrupted for 24 hours. Louis Vuitton's nearly one kilometer long road was converted into a show, and Huang Donghe, the director of the popular Korean TV series "Squid Game", which has aroused global debate, acted as a scene setting consultant, which triggered widespread market expectations before the show.
The picture shows Louis Vuitton 2023 early autumn series
Later, Zheng Haoyan, a supermodel who participated in the popular TV series "Squid Game", became the opening model and walked out of the time tunnel and across the whole bridge. In the cold wind, Louis Vuitton did not change the model's hairstyle to bunched hair, but let its hair fly with the wind. This is completely in line with the female warrior image that Nicolas Ghesqui è re, the creative director of women's clothing, has always created. They walk bravely in the wind with their feet on the science fiction full Archlight 2.0 sneakers.
The blue light and shadow channel is formed by the water column waterfall suddenly gushing out from the bridge to greet the models returning from the "other side" and push the fashion show to its climax. Nicolas Ghesqui è re took a curtain call from the "This Shore" exit, facing the crowd. Although the scene is immersive, it is even more spectacular and shocking on the live screen. Up to now, Daxiu has received more than 40 million views on Weibo.
Louis Vuitton's nearly one kilometer long road has been converted into a show, while Huang Donghe, director of the popular Korean TV series "Squid Game", which has aroused global debate, serves as a scene setting consultant
If this show is regarded as a city propaganda film, then its appeal to the wider population has been realized.
Louis Vuitton's show notes contain philosophical thoughts. "The 2023 early autumn women's wear series is a story from here to there. From an image to a concept, from memory to innovation, from belief to new knowledge, it is a creative tour to interpret the essence of Louis Vuitton's style. This series is integrated with the endless traffic on the Hanjiang River diving bridge. The whole bridge stands safely in the ebb and flow of the tide, revealing the breath like rhythm, just like the profound fable of life form transformation, and complements the equally varied women's clothing series. "
Nicolas Ghesqui è re is often more interested in the grand space-time world than some specific inspiration sources. Although people can see the one-piece sportswear inspired suspenders in the popular Korean TV series "Squid Game", as well as the jacket with the Korean silhouette, and the Korean traditional music was introduced at the beginning of the show music, on the whole, Louis Vuitton followed its classic architectural silhouette, metal elements, and French elegant style combined with sports in this series.
Therefore, it is not difficult to understand why Louis Vuitton takes "change and invariance" as the theme of this series. Even if it was the first time for the brand to hold a global level show in South Korea, Nicolas Ghesqui è re kept aloof in front of the fresh and hot Korean culture with strong appeal. As a time traveler, he understands the true meaning of travel, that is, not to drift with the tide in change, but to strengthen himself.
Nicolas Ghesqui è re insists on his creative perspective, while Louis Vuitton continues to adhere to the spirit of travel.
Before Daxiu, Louis Vuitton signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the Seoul Municipal Government and the Korea Tourism Administration, which plans to support long-term and short-term projects to protect the Han River and its biodiversity, and incorporate them into the city guide. A book booth will be installed in the diving bridge pedestrian street to promote Seoul's tourism through fashion exhibitions and various contents.
This tripartite partnership is part of the "Korean Tourism Year" launched by South Korea at the end of last year. The initiative designated 2023-2024 as the Korean Tourism Year, aiming to encourage 30 million overseas tourists to travel to Seoul this year.
in fact, Tourism has always been an important factor affecting the luxury business 。 The stagnation of mobility caused by the global epidemic in the past three years has brought many changes to the market distribution of the luxury industry. The continuous redistribution of consumption power and voice in regional markets has promoted the real-time updating of luxury brand decisions.
In 2019, Louis Vuitton opened its flagship store, Louis Vuitton Maison Seoul, in Qingtandong in Seoul, and held a grand global party and show for this purpose, inviting global guests to highlight the brand's importance to the Korean market.
The WeChat official account LADYMAX pointed out in the report "LV Seoul Flagship Store Opens, Betting Hong Kong Tourists Flow to South Korea?" that, in addition to Japan and China, South Korea is becoming the third pole of the Asian luxury market. Unlike the Chinese market, which mainly depends on local consumers, South Korea not only has a solid local customer base, but also undertakes the loss of Asian tourists from Hong Kong market, including tourists from mainland China.
The picture shows Louis Vuitton's flagship store in Seoul in Qingtan Cave
Louis Vuitton Maison Seoul
Excluding the external environmental factors of repeated outbreaks in three years, this phenomenon now seems to have been further strengthened. Korean Wave culture is spreading around the world, and the strong growth of the Korean luxury market continues to enhance the importance of the Korean market in the luxury territory.
For example, the 2019 Louis Vuitton show in Seoul is just a replay of the early spring 2020 series. This year, the early autumn 2023 series is upgraded to a global level series debut. In January this year, Hyein, a 14-year-old member of NewJeans, an idol group launched only last July, was appointed as Louis Vuitton brand ambassador. Then in February, Louis Vuitton announced that J-Hope, a member of BTS portfolio in South Korea, was the brand ambassador.
A member of NewJeans who is only 14 years old and a Louis Vuitton brand ambassador Hyein
According to the regulatory documents submitted by Louis Vuitton South Korea, benefiting from the recovery of consumer luxury consumption after the epidemic, the sales of brands in the South Korean market in 2022 will continue to rise by 15.2% to 1.69 trillion won, about 8.8 billion yuan, on the basis of the high base of the previous year, and the net profit will rise by 68.9% to 380 billion won, about 1.97 billion yuan.
Behind the growth of personal luxury expenditure in South Korea is the rise of consumption power in South Korea and the growth of luxury consumption desire. According to the data of Bank of Korea, the net assets of households in this country will increase by 11% in 2021, and the increase of household wealth will provide strong support for the growth of luxury demand.
The Morgan Stanley report of the investment bank shows that in 2022, the total expenditure of Koreans on personal luxury goods will rise by 24% to US $16.8 billion, with an average consumption of US $325 per capita, US $55 per capita in China and US $280 per capita.
Similar to China, in East Asian culture, personal value needs social recognition, which makes luxury goods particularly popular in the Korean market, because the value of luxury goods does not lie in the product itself, but in the sense of social recognition brought by the product.
These facts have obviously been widely recognized in a large number of media discussions. However, after two Seoul fashion shows, one was the hottest peak of the market in November 2019 before the epidemic, and the other was the starting point of the recovery of the Asian market in April 2023. A new question was raised, that is, whether luxury brands can "penetrate" the Asian market when the world flattens again.
In other words, when luxury brands continue to return to a market, they should come with a deeper understanding of localization.
As far as Seoul is concerned, the capital city representing South Korea has also undergone many changes in the past three years. The rise of national fitness culture is not only an extension of the country's persistent pursuit of appearance, but also comes from the further influence of western culture on Korean young people. In the past, Korean young people were famous for their rich nightlife and the prevalence of drinking culture. Today, they not only love midnight snack and disco, but also often appear in the 24-hour gym at midnight.
Almost no sleep is the description of Korean young people by many observers. The contradiction between staying up late while seeking health supplements and refreshing with a lot of coffee reflects the invisible peer competition pressure of young people in this country, which is not only caused by the spirit of racing against the clock and living in the present, but also the requirements of social norms of collectivism.
Behind the crazy enjoyment of living at present is the lowest birth rate in the world. In the face of high housing prices and living costs, more and more young Korean people give up marriage and stick to the principle of singleness, so they are more daring to consume luxury goods. These cultural backgrounds are the real reasons for the popularity of luxury goods. This psychological state of young people can also be seen in some first tier cities in Asia, which indicates the similar consumption psychology of young people and a certain social development trend.
However, compared with the diversity of Chinese young people's dressing styles, Korean street fashion is almost dominated by black and white and gray tones. Most consumers follow the minimalist style and basic models, which means that personalized tolerance is low. In 2019, South Korean social media once launched a call called "Take off the corset" to encourage South Korean women to be bold and not to meet the social aesthetic standards endlessly by smashing cosmetics, cutting short hair and comparing before and after the release of makeup.
However, the invisible constraints in Korean society are still visible to the naked eye. Many observers pointed out that three years later, the homogenization of street fashion in Seoul seems to continue to increase, with few passers-by carrying luxury handbags, which is significantly different from the diversified and publicized street fashion scene in Shanghai, China.
This may be due to the diversion of young Korean consumers' attention to lifestyle. Coffee culture, fragrance products and outdoor cycling culture are popular. French names are popular from fashion brands Mardi Mercredi and Maison Marais to popular bars Bar Pomme and various street cafes. Consumers' fascination with French culture has been upgraded, while the once favored American street trend has turned to a more sophisticated American retro style.
If the song "Gangnam Style", which became popular all over the world in 2012, has aroused people's yearning for the Gangnam area where the rich class in Seoul gathered, demonstrated a publicity style of material supremacy, and embraced the success of American hip-hop culture, then the new popular areas of Korean young people ten years later, Hanan Cave and Shengshui Cave, It represents their current interest in an introverted and high-quality lifestyle.
This makes us realize that the common feature of young people in both China and South Korea is that they are keen on chasing new trends, accepting new information, and yearning for an exquisite lifestyle. At the same time, they also began to be interested in traditional culture. In China, national fashion and Han costume culture are rising, while South Korean young creative person Blackpink consciously integrates traditional costume and music elements into his works.
Perhaps observing these changes, Louis Vuitton, who came to Seoul for the second time, strengthened the local historical and cultural links in the city tour arranged before the Korean Grand Show. The release of holiday series is often not only about fashion shows, but also about the brand's holiday trip for invited guests. It can be seen from various details of Louis Vuitton's reception of guests that compared with the international restaurant and show selection in 2019, this year it highlights more traditional and local elements.
This is the growth of the Korean market and Louis Vuitton.
Also as an Asian market, the Korean market and the Chinese market have both differences and similarities. In the past, they were summarized as vague "Asian market", but now the two markets have formed independent and strong local culture. This subtle difference within the Asian market is increasingly important, and luxury brands are often not easy to notice.
As far as the leverage of business growth is concerned, the business of China's luxury market continues to tap new customers in the sinking market with the help of digitalization, capital and population, bringing population mobility to global tourism. The smaller Korean market relies more on the leverage of popular culture and media, preferring to focus on the maintenance and repurchase of existing customers. However, compared with the Japanese market, which is more stable and closed with a mature luxury ecosystem, the Korean market is relatively open and young.
This is why luxury goods and new retail in South Korea are characterized by single family flagship stores, and pay attention to the interaction between the exterior design and internal space of single family buildings. After all, unforgettable experience is the premise of re purchase. Each luxury flagship store in Qingtandong luxury street stands with its own distinct and sophisticated architectural appearance, while the emerging local brands represented by Title Monster and Ader Error set off a trend of creating exhibition retail space through digital projection and electronic devices, which has affected the retail thinking of domestic commercial real estate such as SKP-S.
Even within the framework of the Asian market, the three important markets of China, Japan and South Korea, which occupy different nodes in the history of luxury development, are actually quite different in their essence and logic. They closely influence each other and, of course, compete with each other.
A luxury brand with travel as its theme has taken the lead in understanding different regions. Everything must start from the true demands of consumers.
