Established in 2011 by Hankook Kim, Gentle Monster has swiftly ascended as a South Korean brand acclaimed worldwide for its chic eyewear and groundbreaking designs. Featuring surreal, exclusive, and futuristic eyewear, the brand has garnered a diverse array of consumers both domestically and internationally. While originally crafted to cater to Asian facial features, its innovative retail experiences have captured the interest of audiences across Asia and beyond.
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Gentle Monster’s history of disrupting the eyewear market
Gentle Monster is a luxury eyewear brand whose history is rooted in meeting the aesthetic needs of Asian wearers. The eyewear market in South Korea is fiercely competitive, with large companies like Luxottica, Safilo, and Kering Eyewear dominating it.
However, Kim noticed that these companies pandered only to Western consumers and saw an opportunity to localize eyewear for the Asian population by creating larger frames, which make their faces appear smaller – a highly desired social compliment. Gentle Monster’s mission became to create a “low-bridge fit” in their lenses, specifically tailored for the average Asian facial structure. This resonated deeply within the fashion industry in South Korea.
In addition to its products, its innovative experiences have allowed it to gain tremendous popularity. Gentle Monster has grown not only in Korea but also in Asia and internationally. It has over 40 stores and collaborations with Nordstrom, celebrities, and designer stores.
Gentle Monster’s philosophy of “luxury experimentation” through unique retail experiences
Gentle Monster’s philosophy centers around “luxury experimentation.” It focuses not only on eyewear design but also on creating unconventional retail experiences. This allows it to captivate consumers and ensure their return to witness the store and brand evolution. It achieves this through exhibition-like experiences that communicate the collection’s theme and immerse consumers in it. In its Gangnam-gu store in Korea, Gentle Monster showcases extraordinary retail experiences with stunning installations, such as large moving faces and monumental art constructions.
2024 Gentle Jelly Collection
Gentle Monster’s implemented an experimental marketing approach through its 2024 GENTLE JELLY collection, utilizing distinctive products, packaging, and pop-up stores.
Drawing inspiration from gummies and their playful nature, the new GENTLE JELLY collection features colors like pink, light blue, and yellow. Adorned with jelly patterns, it exudes a high-level aesthetic that has captured consumer interest. Each of the five sunglasses takes cues from classic candies. For instance, the Juicy-MG4, inspired by peach rings, boasts translucent frames.
Additionally, the packaging was incredibly creative. An Instagram video by herbyuss showcased the creative idea of putting the candy-inspired sunglasses into candy bag looking pouches. By unzipping either the top or back hidden zipper, customers could get their playful Gentle Monster sunglasses they purchased.
Furthermore, Gentle Monster opened a pop-up store from January 19th to February 27th to celebrate the launch of its new collection. Its humongous giant sweets of colorful different shapes pouring out of huge bags created an immersive experience for consumers to take photos and to experience the brand in a more interactive way. Even before the opening the pop-up store, it released a teaser trailer, which generated excitement among consumers. One video received nearly 700,000 likes and 1.6 million views on Instagram as of April 2024.
Collaborations with celebrities and brands
Gentle Monster often collaborates with celebrities to create fun and unique collections that appeal to consumers. One notable example is BLACKPINK’s Jennie, whose ‘Jentle Home’ campaign in 2020 showcased glasses with a glossy, youthful, and confident vibe. Ahn Hyo-Seop and BTS’s Jimin have also collaborated with Gentle Monster as ambassadors, attending pop-up store grand openings and launching their own collections.
Collaborating with brands, notably D’heygere and Maison Margiela
Additionally, South Korea’s Gentle Monster has also worked with companies to create incredible collections. Collaborations include Alexander Wang, Hood By Air, Fendi, Ambush, and Opening Ceremony. Among these, its two most popular collections created from these collaborations have been with D’heygere and Maison Margiela.
Applying D’heygere’s jewelry to Gentle Monster’s creative eyewear, the Gentle Monster x D’heygere collection features eyewear temples adorned with earrings and rings. The goal, as stated by the creative director, is to combine frame with jewelry as a structure. To promote this concept of eyewear and jewelry, it created a wedding ceremony, where partners floated mid-air and were drawn together by a magnetic pull, symbolizing the sudden union between Seoul and Paris, as well as jewelry and eyewear.
In February and March 2024, Gentle Monster collaborated again with Maison Margiela. They launched their second collaborative sunglasses featuring leather frames, iconic temple stitches, and templeless mask-shaped pieces. Many of these sunglasses sold out within days and are set to be restocked soon.
Through collaborations with idols and designer brands, Gentle Monster enhances its brand visibility and exposure. Celebrities bring their fan bases to the brand, while brand partnerships provide a platform to reach each other’s consumer bases that may otherwise be inaccessible.
Gentle Monster’s subsidiaries: Nudake and Tamburins
South Korea’s Gentle Monster also owns two subsidiary brands: Nudake, a café brand, and Tamburins, a cosmetics company. These three brands can be found together in its HAUS DOSAN concept store, where Gentle Monster, Tamburins, and Nudake share a single space. However, each also maintains its own individual stores renowned for their creative and immersive experiences.
Opened in Seoul in 2021, the bakery Nudake is celebrated for its innovative pastries. Much like Gentle Monster, Nudake transforms the bakery scene with creative elements such as giant croissant sculptures and a unique squid ink cake, offering customers an unparalleled bakery experience.
Tamburins, too, is renowned for its innovative products and store concepts. With minimalist designs and effective cosmetic offerings, it proudly presents its signature hand cream and Tiger Leaf masks as staples of their collection. The brand operates three flagship stores in South Korea, with the most recent one opening in November 2023. This particular store employs concrete and large glass complexes to evoke a rugged atmosphere reminiscent of an underground cave.
Gentle Monster’s journey from a local eyewear brand to a global sensation
- Gentle Monster entered the eyewear market by tailoring designs to meet the preferences of Asian wearers. It had “low-bridge fit” and large frames, for example, capitalizing on the social value of smaller-looking faces, before expanding internationally.
- Gentle Monster is committed to “luxury experimentation”, not only focusing on eyewear but also on the experiences associated with it. For each collection, it leverages teaser videos, unique packaging, and pop-up stores to attract consumers’ attention and engage with them interactively.
- Gentle Monster has heavily leveraged celebrities and designer brands, often using them as an opportunity to gain exposure to a new consumer base. It also uses each as inspiration for unique designs that can’t be found anywhere else. This can be seen most prominently with BLACKPINK’s Jennie, Maison Margiela, and D’heygere.
- Gentle Monster’s subsidiaries include cafe brand Nudake and the cosmetic company Tamburins.
