Since its establishment in 2011 in Seoul, South Korea, Gentle Monster, a subsidiary of the Snowbear Corporation, has rapidly expanded its presence in the fashion industry. The company focuses on the sale of sunglasses, optical frames, and lenses. Alongside its main brand, Gentle Monster also oversees the fragrance brand Tamburins and the artistic dessert brand Nudake.
From its inception, Gentle Monster has experienced remarkable growth. By 2014, it had generated revenue of USD 40 million, a figure that soared to approximately USD 160 million in 2015. In 2017, the brand secured investment from the prestigious LVMH Group. By 2023, the company had captured a 4% share of the sunglasses market in China, becoming one of the top four brands in market share. As of April 2024, GENTLE MONSTER boasts a total of 19 flagship stores across mainland China, solidifying its position as a prominent player in the Chinese market.
How does Gentle Monster in China capture the attention of consumers?
Positioning with Asian heritage and avant-garde appeal
Gentle Monster initially conceptualized one of its core product ideologies as “For Asians By Asians,” aiming to design sunglasses that suit Asian facial features. Founder Hankook Kim recognized a gap in the market where most mainstream luxury brands primarily catered to the facial features of Europeans and Americans, neglecting the diverse facial structures of Asians. Thus, the brand introduced a range of bold and comfortable oversized sunglasses tailored to Asian facial shapes.
This ability garnered the attention of numerous Asian celebrities. During the brand’s early years, coinciding with the flourishing of South Korean K-pop culture, many renowned Korean celebrities proudly sported Gentle Monster sunglasses, laying a solid foundation for the brand’s expansion into the Chinese market.
Source: Xiaohongshu, the sunglasses featured in the Korean drama Queen of Tears (眼泪女王) caught the attention of Chinese netizens
Beyond this, the brand’s success lies in its ethos of innovative high-end experimentation. The brand appeals to avant-garde fashion enthusiasts by offering exaggerated frame designs and bold color combinations. This approach resonated with trendsetters in China, with social media KOLs and supermodels alike endorsing the brand, further elevating its status in the Chinese fashion scene.
Capturing China’s youthful affluence with individuality
Gentle Monster’s targeted audience in China primarily comprises the younger generation, particularly the Gen Z demographic. The brand aligns well with the growing emphasis on individuality among Chinese youth, offering personalized and avant-garde designs that resonate with their desire for self-expression.
Source: MarketIDX, designed by daxue consulting, demographic profiles of sunglasses-related posters on Weibo, Douyin, and Xiaohongshu in 2023
Moreover, the brand targets the high-end segment. With an average product price of approximately USD 260, it caters to affluent individuals seeking premium fashion accessories. By positioning itself at the intersection of luxury and individuality, Gentle Monster effectively captures the attention and loyalty of China’s affluent and style-conscious consumers.
Source: Tmall, almost all online sunglasses are priced at over RMB 1900 (approximately USD 260)
How does Gentle Monster in China build its brand presence?
Digital marketing strategy
Gentle Monster in China employs a comprehensive digital marketing strategy, leveraging social media platforms such as Weibo and Xiaohongshu for brand promotion, content dissemination, and interactive engagement to captivate its audience. For instance, the brand’s official Weibo account averages 20 posts per month, showcasing new products and collaborations. As of April 24, 2024, the hashtag #GentleMonster# has garnered an impressive 250 million reads and sparked discussions with 555 thousand engagements.
High-profile collaborations and endorsements
Gentle Monster’s prominence in China is further enhanced by its high-profile collaborations and endorsements. The brand places significant emphasis on partnerships, including collaborations with celebrities, intellectual properties, and other brands. For instance, in its recent April 17th release of new products, the brand collaborated with a diverse range of celebrities including Bia, J Balvin, Zhu Yilong, Xu Guanghan, ATEEZ member Seonghwa, and SZA, encompassing stars from mainland China, Taiwan, South Korea, and the West, thus attracting a wide range of fan bases.
Source: Weibo, the brand’s collaboration transcend borders, fostering connections with influencers from diverse cultural backgrounds
In addition, the brand’s official website features dedicated pages for collaborative releases. These pages display an extensive array of 224 collaborations as of April 24, 2024, ranging from artists and designers to mainstream celebrities, catering to a wide spectrum of tastes and preferences.
Immersive retail: Gentle Monster’s signature in China
In a time when e-commerce dominates the shopping habits of Chinese consumers, the brand stands out for its emphasis on the offline experience, particularly in the design of its retail stores. The founder believes that retail spaces should not only facilitate shopping but also authentically convey the brand’s ideology.
Therefore, each of its retail stores worldwide boasts a distinct aesthetic style, resembling more like art installations than traditional stores. Attention to detail in window displays and interior decor creates visually striking environments, earning them the monikers of “selfie heaven“(自拍神店) and “landmark trendy stores“(地标潮店) on Chinese social media platforms. As of April 24, 2024, there are over 110 thousand posts related to this brand on Xiaohongshu.
Source: Xiaohongshu,the brand’s artfully designed storefronts attract numerous Chinese netizens to take selfies and share photos
For example, the flagship store in Beijing’s Chaoyang District adopts the theme of “Future Humanity (未来人类).” The space portrays an imaginative narrative of humans traveling through wormholes between Mars and Earth. Visitors encounter traces of wormhole energy within the environment, while dynamic installations inside vividly portray the effects of this energy on humans and objects. Such design immerses customers in a sci-fi reality, allowing them to experience the brand’s futuristic and innovative spirit firsthand.
However, in the eyes of some, the art space within the brand’s store has become the protagonist, relegating sunglasses to a supporting role. But, rather than viewing this as a misplacement of priorities, it’s more akin to the brand’s experimental approach to marketing its artistic values. Elevating brand value through art spaces and prioritizing fashion over function, the brand explores new avenues in consumer engagement.
Beyond Eyewear: Gentle Monster and its bakery branch Nudake’s campaign in Shanghai
Surprisingly, Gentle Monster boldly ventures into a realm entirely distinct from eyewear accessories – desserts, with the creation of its bakery branch Nudake. Each dessert at Nudake boasts dramatic designs, immediately captivating a vast array of curious consumers visually. Beyond the desserts themselves, every aspect of Nudake, from the utensils used to the styling of the store, inherits and embodies Gentle Monster’s artistic pursuits.
Source: DIGITALING, every aspect of Nudake embodies Gentle Monster’s artistic pursuits
For instance, the GENTLE MONSTER HAUS SHANGHAI retail space opened in Shanghai on September 30, 2021. Nudake, located on the first floor of HAUS SHANGHAI, is centered around the theme “MAKE NEW FANTASY! DESSERT OF YOUR DREAMS,” aiming to awaken visitors’ taste buds with whimsical artistic desserts. Within this space, lively mechanical horses coexist with diverse collage media art, creating a floor overflowing with Nudake’s spirit of fantastical imagination.
Since its opening, the store has seen a constant stream of visitors and long queues daily. Within just one month after opening, the Weibo hashtag #haus nowhere# garnered over 3 million views, while related topics on Xiaohongshu surpassed 4.5 million views, making it one of the most viewed fashion topics in nearly a month.
From eccentric desserts to futuristic retail spaces, it’s evident that Gentle Monster in China constantly strives to stimulate consumers’ senses with unique concepts and tastes, offering a plethora of peculiar aesthetic experiments.
What do you need to know about Gentle Monster in China?
- Since 2011, GENTLE MONSTER, under the SNOWBEAR Corporation, rapidly grew in fashion, focusing on eyewear and expanding to fragrance and desserts.
- The brand’s Asian-inspired, avant-garde positioning revolutionizes sunglasses for diverse facial structures, attracting celebrities and trendsetters in China.
- The brand targets China’s affluent Gen Z with personalized, avant-garde designs. Its offline stores offer unique, art-inspired experiences, distinguishing the brand in Chinese market.
- Gentle Monster in China builds brand presence through digital marketing, high-profile collaborations, and immersive retail experiences, emphasizing artistry and innovation.
- The brand expands beyond eyewear with Nudake bakery, captivating visually and stimulating with whimsical desserts, still embodying artistic pursuits.
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