SOUTH KOREA. Lotte Duty Free has launched a pop-up for popular domestic art sneaker brand Seven Eight Under at the travel retailer’s flagship location in Myeong-dong, Seoul.
The space’s opening was announced today (1 November) by Lotte Duty Free CEO Kim Ju Nam. The pop-up, on the store’s tenth floor and running until 2 January, marks Seven Eight Under’s debut in the duty-free market.
Popular with the MZ generation, Seoul-based Seven Eight Under was launched in 2022. The brand collaborates with artists, photographers, designers and art curators to create challenging and trendy designs which “cross boundaries in fashion and art”. The Seven Eight Under sneakers feature premium materials from Japan.
The pop-up store introduces the limited-edition ‘Rudyindahouse’ style, in partnership with deconstructed sneaker artist Rudy Lim. Only 100 pieces of the design, which has different left and right sides, are available.
The space also highlights Seven Eight Under collaborations with other artists, including the ‘X-1’ with toy artist Coolrain, graffiti artist Christian Storm and tattooist Doi.
Pop-up visitors following Seven Eight Under’s social media accounts will receive a gift on a first-come, first-served basis.
A Lotte Duty Free spokesperson said: “We are happy to be the first to introduce trendy brands loved by the MZ generation. We plan to continue to discover new brands and to serve as a bridgehead to introduce domestic brands to the global market.”
Lotte Duty Free noted the steady increase in demand for Korean fashion brands. The travel retailer’s domestic fashion brand sales in the third quarter of this year increased by more than +30% year-on-year, a higher growth rate than that of imported fashion brands.
As reported, Korean streetwear brand Ader Error made its travel retail debut exclusively with Lotte Duty Free in September. ✈
