The Business of Fashion
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
The two retail giants’ subsidiaries and entertainment company CJ ENM are the finalists bidding for the fashion e-commerce platform, The Korea Times reports.
The three firms are currently in discussions with W Concept’s operator and private equity fund IMM PE; the firm is expected to announce a winner within the month. Last December, a shortlist including the three firms and e-commerce marketplace 11Street was announced, but the latter has since dropped out of the race.
According to The Korea Times, W Concept Korea has a 30 percent share of the country’s online womenswear market. The news underlines the rapid growth of Korea’s online shopping market, which has only accelerated in the wake of Covid-19 and is pushing leading players to consolidate in order to compete. Lotte and Shinsegae are also looking to acquire eBay Korea in a deal that could make either firm the market’s leading e-commerce player.
Local streetwear brands, festivals and stores selling major global labels remain relatively small but the country’s community of hypebeasts and sneakerheads is growing fast.
This week’s round-up of global markets fashion business news also features Senegalese investors, an Indian menswear giant and workers’ rights in Myanmar.
Though e-commerce reshaped retailing in the US and Europe even before the pandemic, a confluence of economic, financial and logistical circumstances kept the South American nation insulated from the trend until later.
This week’s round-up of global markets fashion business news also features Korean shopping app Ably, Kenya’s second-hand clothing trade and the EU’s bid to curb forced labour in Chinese cotton.