Musinsa holds first large-scale solo pop-up in Osaka
71 K-fashion and beauty brands showcased across 1,399 square meters
Local 20s and 30s flock: 'Korean brands have great details'
Nongshim's Shin Ramyun booth also featured: 'Spicy but savory'
Young men and women began gathering outside Grand Green Osaka VS, a venue in one of Osaka's busiest commercial districts, on Friday morning (local time) — lining up before the doors opened for Musinsa's first solo pop-up store in the city.
By the time the 11 a.m. opening approached, the queue stretched from the entrance on the below-ground first floor all the way out of the building and dozens of meters down the street. Madoka, a woman in her 20s waiting in line, said she had come after seeing the event promoted on social media. "I first learned about Musinsa when I traveled to Korea," she said. "There are so many cute things — I've bought from them three or four times." She added that Korean fashion carries an image of being cutting-edge.
The pop-up spans 1,399 square meters and features 50 K-fashion brands and 21 K-beauty brands, with roughly 3,400 products on display and for sale — the largest selection across all five pop-up events Musinsa has held in Japan to date. Unlike the company's first Japan pop-up, a short-run event at Hankyu department store in 2023, this one occupies a much larger footprint and runs for a total of 17 days, through Nov. 8.
Once the doors opened, the venue filled quickly. Corners featuring the romantically detailed brands Illigo and Ohesio drew immediate crowds. One female customer held up a garment for her friend, repeatedly saying "kawaii" — the Japanese word for cute. The Musinsa Standard zone, styled around the theme "Seoul, Standard," also drew a steady stream of visitors. Customers scanned QR tags on clothing with their phones to check prices, with purchases made through Musinsa's global online store.
Many visitors were already familiar with Korean fashion and Musinsa. Mana, a woman in her 20s living in Osaka, said she had been using Musinsa's global online store and decided to visit when she heard the pop-up was coming to the city. "Korean brands have a simplicity I like, with small details that stand out," she said, singling out a brand called Hieta as a favorite. Another visitor, Yuni, said she had recently bought a pair of shoes from a brand called Giho on Musinsa. "I heard it was coming to Japan for the first time, so I wore them here," she said, lifting her foot to show them off.
The beauty section brought together Musinsa Beauty's own labels — Oddtype and Witchie — alongside a range of emerging K-beauty brands. Kang Kyung-min, chief executive of one such brand, Fivebybe, said the Osaka event marked her second Japan pop-up through Musinsa and that she could feel the brand's recognition growing among Japanese customers. "We've been able to get a clearer picture of what kind of makeup Japanese customers like and which products suit them better," she said.
One of the pop-up's more eye-catching additions was a Shin Ramyun booth from Nongshim, designed to let young Japanese visitors interested in K-fashion also experience Korean food culture. Maiko, who was sampling Shin Ramyun Toomba, said it was "spicy but savory and delicious." A booth for I'm Donut, a popular Korean doughnut brand, also drew long lines as it gave away four of its best-known Korean menu items.
Musinsa's choice of Osaka as the site for a large-scale pop-up reflects the spread of K-fashion demand beyond Tokyo into the Kansai region. From January through September this year, transaction volume from the Kansai area on Musinsa's global store ranked second only to the Greater Tokyo metropolitan area. Osaka is the largest city in Kansai — Japan's second-largest economic zone — and the biggest commercial hub in western Japan. According to Musinsa, about 15,000 people visited the pop-up in its opening stretch from Friday through Sunday. Transaction volume from the Osaka area on Musinsa's global store surged 641 percent compared with the same period a year earlier.
Through the pop-up, Musinsa aims to gauge K-fashion demand in the Kansai region and gather data to help domestic brands make inroads into the Japanese market. A recent example of that strategy paying off is Acam, a Korean fashion brand launched in 2022. After going through Musinsa's incubating program and entering Japan, the brand built its profile and posted annual transaction volume of 10 billion won ($7.55 million) last year. Six brands are making their Japan debut at this pop-up, including Eland's women's SPA label Mixxo, as well as Chakkan, Untitled Seoul and Giho.
Musinsa is also planning to expand into Japan's offline retail market. Jo Hyun-ah, Musinsa's head of global marketing, said Japan stands out among the company's overseas markets for its relatively deep understanding of Korean brands and the speed with which it responds to new offerings. "We will focus on understanding the sizes and product characteristics that Japanese customers demand most," she said.
soho0902@heraldcorp.com
