About 200 crowd Spao's Warmtech campaign pop-up in Seongsu-dong

'Wool Blend' joins lineup as brand pushes into everyday wear

Uniqlo, Topten also expanding lineups and design options

Convenience stores join the fray: 'the battle starts before the cold snap'

About 200 people gather outside the Spao store in Seongsu-dong, Seongdong-gu, Seoul, on Thursday for a Warmtech campaign pop-up event. Rapper and actor Swings, the brand's Warmtech model, attended the event. [Kim Jin]
About 200 people gather outside the Spao store in Seongsu-dong, Seongdong-gu, Seoul, on Thursday for a Warmtech campaign pop-up event. Rapper and actor Swings, the brand's Warmtech model, attended the event. [Kim Jin]

About 200 people gathered outside the Spao store in Seongsu-dong, Seongdong-gu, Seoul, at 3 p.m. Thursday — drawn by a visit from Swings, the rapper and actor who serves as the face of the brand's thermal wear line Warmtech. Some had begun lining up as early as that morning, when temperatures dipped to 5 degrees Celsius. "People were waiting from 8:30 in the morning, and we had to limit numbers because of the crowd," a store employee said.

Swings' appearance was tied to a one-hour Warmtech campaign pop-up held that day. Spao chose Seongsu-dong as the venue — a hub of K-fashion that draws both domestic shoppers and foreign tourists. Visitors were mostly in their teens to 30s, and some had traveled from outside Seoul.

Ju Mo, 20, said she had come from Yangju, Gyeonggi Province, after seeing the event on social media. Lee Chan-hui, 17, a high school student from Asan, South Chungcheong Province, said Lee had come to Seoul on a school trip and joined the line after spotting the event in progress.

For this campaign, Spao expanded Warmtech's scope into everyday wear, positioning the thermal layer as an active part of an outfit rather than something worn underneath. The flagship new product is the Warmtech Wool Blend, which features a higher wool content and is designed to provide warmth and ease of movement on its own. The Warmtech lineup now spans four tiers: Essential, Wool Blend, Everywhere and Premium.

"The lineup reflects the growing number of customers who use Warmtech as loungewear or outerwear," a Spao official said. "We wanted to make it accessible to customers of all ages at a reasonable price."

Demand is rising alongside falling temperatures. According to Eland World, which operates Spao, Warmtech sales from Oct. 1 to Oct. 28 were up 37 percent from the same period last year. Spao has roughly tripled its Warmtech inventory this year compared with last year to meet the demand.

Rivals are also expanding and refining their thermal wear lineups. Uniqlo's Heattech comes in four tiers — Heattech, Cashmere Blend, Extra Warm and Ultra Warm — and is available in designs including U-neck and turtleneck. Topten, operated by Shinsung Tongsang, offers its Onair line in four tiers: Moisture Warm, Light Warm, Super Warm and Extreme Warm. Prices vary by brand, ranging from around 10,000 won ($7) to as high as the 30,000 won range.

New entrants are also moving into the thermal wear market. Athleisure brand Xexymix launched its Heat Motion line in November last year. Convenience store chains GS25, Seven-Eleven and Emart24 have also begun selling thermal wear in their stores.

"Thermal wear shopping starts before the cold snap hits, and whichever brand a customer picks first tends to be the one they stick with all winter," one industry official said. "Right now is the first and most critical battleground in the thermal wear competition."

A Warmtech thermal wear display at the Spao store in Seongsu-dong, Seongdong-gu, Seoul, on Thursday. [Kim Jin]
A Warmtech thermal wear display at the Spao store in Seongsu-dong, Seongdong-gu, Seoul, on Thursday. [Kim Jin]

soho0902@heraldcorp.com