SOUTH KOREA. Lotte Duty Free opened a boutique for K-fashion brand The Museum Visitor on Saturday (1 July), a first in the travel retail channel.
The store is on the ninth floor of the travel retailer’s flagship store in Myeong-dong, Seoul. The brand is also available via Lotte Duty Free’s online store.
The Museum Visitor, launched in 2016 by designer Park Munsoo, draws its inspiration from contemporary art. The brand is particularly popular with the MZ generation – a term to describe two groups, Millennials, born 1981-1996, and Generation Z, born 1997-2012.
“We are strengthening brands and products that can meet the shopping demand of the 20s and 30s, who are emerging as big players,” said Lotte Duty Free Head of Product Division Lee Jeong-min. “We will actively support this aim by using various channels.”
The Museum Visitor won renown for adding artistry to fashion clothes by hand-crafting unique colours and digital printing. Several celebrities, including hip-hop label artists and actors, have embraced the brand and boosted its awareness, Lotte Duty Free said.
Lotte Duty Free underlined the brand’s identity by arranging artworks around the store drawn by Park based on the theme of flowers, one of The Museum Visitor’s symbols.
More than 70 fashion items, including clothing, bags, and caps, among them The Museum Visitor’s most popular items such as the Heart Sprayed T-shirt and Five Flowerpot Ball Cap, are on display.
In addition, the HE (Art) collection, which was launched by The Museum Visitor in partnership with FILA on the 20th – and has generated what Lotte Duty Free called “an explosive response” – is also being offered as a travel retail-exclusive.
Besides its Myeong-dong and online stores, Lotte Duty Free also plans to open The Museum Visitor in Jeju on 11 August.
The retailer is promoting a -5% discount on The Museum Visitor products until 21 July to commemorate the exclusive opening. In addition, limited-edition sneakers released in collaboration between The Museum Visitor and FILA are being offered in a prize draw to customers who purchase any of the brand’s products online by 31 July.
Prior to launching The Museum Visitor, Lotte Duty Free struck a business agreement with the Seoul Metropolitan Government in May to discover K brands and support them in overseas sales channels.
As reported, this concerted promotion of K-fashion brands saw Lotte Duty Free open a dedicated Seoul Fashion Week pavilion in its Tokyo Ginza store in partnership with the Seoul Metropolitan Government on 27 June. ✈
