Thom Browne to inaugurate new company in South Korea

Thom Browne luxury fashion brand based in New York City, will create its own firm in South Korea. It expressed its intention to establish a new company to get a bigger share of the country’s fashion market.

Thom Browne’s move to open a new company was reportedly confirmed by officials of Samsung CT on Friday, Jan. 27. This is a move for the brand to have firmer control of its trade in the region.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the Italian fashion house Ermenegildo Zegna NV, which owns the Thom Browne brand, said it would build a new firm that will be called Thom Browne Korea. The target date for its inauguration is on July 1.

Thom Browne will directly run its business, while Samsung C&T Corporation will be providing some external support this time. To be more specific, the Korean firm will only help with the distribution and management of the brand’s 17 stores in the country.

The arrangement comes after Thom Browne ended its partnership deal with Samsung C&T, the trading and construction unit of the Samsung Group. For the past 12 years, it has been the exclusive distributor of the Thom Browne fashion line in the Korean market.

FashionUnited reported that after taking over the business from Samsung C&T, Thom Browne Korea would continue the business by taking responsibility for all the trade activities. But then, it will still work together with the trading and construction firm through its new retail management agreement.

Meanwhile, it was in 2011 when Thom Browne’s label first landed in South Korea after opening its store in Hyundai Department Store in Seoul. It gradually opens more branches in leading shopping malls, including the Lotte Main and Shinsegae Department Store in Gangnam.

"The form of the contract may have changed between Samsung CT and Thom Browne but our partnership will remain unchanged," an official from Samsung CT said.

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