- Lingerie market increased by 7% and reached 1,540 billion Won in 2010 among Korea Apparel market which recorded 31,900 billion Won according to the KOFOTI -Market trend is getting stylish and fashionable looks like outerwear -Unit price increased 4% due to popularity of luxury lingerie -Lingerie market is expected to increase 3% constantly in 2011
1. Lingerie market increased by 7% in 2010 which showed double digit value growth until 2009, recorded a slightly slower 4% value growth rate in 2010. It shows a positive growth rate continuously. It was influenced by changed concept from lingerie to fashion items as outerwear.
2. In women's lingerie, functional lingerie for body line compensation is the main trend. The 'See-Through Look', which means wearing bright colored outerwear and dark colored bras underneath, is also a popular fashion trend over the country. Thanks to this trend, Korean women that are concerned about their figure buy functional brassieres to compensate. Also, colors and design as well as brand value are important. According to manufacturers, sales of leopard print, edged with elegant lace and natural volume up pad bras increased, while sales of ivory and pink decreased.
3. Due to extremely cold weather, thermal lingerie continued to be popular constantly. Only thermal long lingerie for winter was available, but thermal ranges were expanded to include bras and panties in 2010 and 2011. Meanwhile, corsets had a revival in 2010. Women typically consider corsets to be uncomfortable, but, new designs and fabrics helped healthy sales growth. New corsets are made with polyspan, which is known to have good level of elasticity and can retain its original shape after washing. Additionally, although these new corsets are boned, they can be adjusted to fit the body.
4. Vivien and Venus, top brands of Korea Lingerie market in Korea, recently imported lingerie brands and those produced by famous outerwear manufacturers became popular among Young consumers making this market more competitive. Even if domestic brands are losing value share slowly, they maintain a leading position by offering superior quality. Because of the diverse styles of Lingerie available and new functional products, the unit price of women's lingerie increased by more than 4% constantly for two years in row. As the number of consumers who consider Lingerie as outerwear increases, expensive but fashionable brands became more popular than economical lingerie.
5. Store-based retailers account for the majority of sales, but the homeshopping channel is seeing faster growth than other channels. As functional lingerie increases in popularity, details explanations and demonstrations by sales people lead healthy sales growth. Hypermarkets also increased rapidly due to the diverse promotional events run by such operators.
- In Domestic market, major 5 local brands named Shin Young Wacoal, Nam Yeong Vivien, BYC, TRY and Good People occupied the lingerie market approximately 75% through the retail shops, hyper markets, homeshopping channel and online shopping malls. Elements of competitiveness in Korea market are composed of Brand image which reminds the consumer royalty, value added design and ability of establish the logistic supply chain which could link to flagship stores or traditional shopping districts.
1. Shin Young Wacoal Inc maintained the leading position with a 48% share of value sales based on department stores' sales value. (According to the Shin Young Wacoal's Quarterly Report as of June 2011) The company's Venus brand holds the largest share of sales in Women's Lingerie, but it is under threat from imported brands or new players which already have brand power in outerwear market. Shin Young Wacoal introduced the Venus Cool Bra which protects the skin from moisture by wicking away sweat and the company channeled its efforts into market expansion. At the same time, as seasonal lingerie in winter, UNICLO shows big sales on bra top called Heattech which maintains the warmness/heat of body away from cold weather. This kind of functional new products attracts the consumers rapidly.
2. Besides domestic brands like Venus and Vivien, there are few others that enjoy such good performances. International brands such as Guess Lingerie, Armani Lingerie and Calvin Klein are all expanding their market shares quickly. Each opened shops inside existing outerwear stores and targeted existing customers who are loyal to the Guess, Armani or Calvin Klein brands.
3. Private label is competing with other brands with its price advantage. Hypermarkets and internet retailers copy other brands' idea and introduced them at cheaper prices. Especially EMart operated by Shinsegae Co., Ltd. had hold big promotional events for Lingerie in 2010 and 2011, and it offered all kinds of popular lingerie such as thermal lingerie, fitted lingerie to flatter the figure, functional corsets, and cheap, simple colored lingerie.
Lingerie market in Korea continues growing and the product portfolio is becoming increasingly diverse. It is expected to record a constant value Compound Annual Growth Rate of 4% from 2010 to 2015 positively. Also, trend for wearing Lingerie as outerwear will continue and expand further. To Young female consumers, pretty Lingerie should be shown in harmony with outerwear. To satisfy those consumers, manufacturers will introduce more outer-looking Lingerie. Based on efforts of consumers and manufacturers, See-Through look trend will continue into the forecast period. Due to its See-Through look trend, the unit price will increase by 28% over the forecast period in constant value term. Aside from locally-manufactured brands, Venus and Vivien, imported famous outerwear brands' Lingerie ranges as well as functional products will be increasingly popular.
*Source: Korea Federation of Textile Industries, Euromonitor, Fashion Biz, Financial Supervisory Service, Korea Fashion Association
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