Dongdaemun B2B manufacturers once hidden from consumers

Value-for-money appeal builds fandoms of tens of thousands on social media

Transaction volumes jump on fashion platforms as sector grows fast

A lookbook image from the Instagram account of Founders, a well-known wholesale-tag brand [Instagram]
A lookbook image from the Instagram account of Founders, a well-known wholesale-tag brand [Instagram]

A 34-year-old office worker surnamed Kim made a point of carving out time last weekend to visit the underground shopping arcade at Express Bus Terminal in Seocho-gu, Seoul — all to shop at a "wholesale-tag" store discovered through social media. The basic T-shirts at the brand Kim visited start in the low 10,000-won ($7) range, with knitwear in the 20,000-won range. "Even SPA brands get pricey when it comes to winter clothes, so I started looking into wholesale-tag brands that people say have good quality," Kim said. "The prices are less than half, but the quality doesn't seem to fall far behind."

Wholesale-tag clothing — long associated with Dongdaemun — has emerged as a shopping staple among women in their 20s and 30s. Relatively low prices and a wide variety of designs have spread its reputation by word of mouth over the past few years, drawing attention as a value-for-money fashion option. Some labels have even built fandoms that rival those of designer brands.

According to the fashion industry, a wholesale-tag brand refers to a manufacturer that focuses primarily on business-to-business sales. Its products reach consumers indirectly, bought in bulk by online shopping malls or small offline fashion stores before being sold on.

Social media is what brought these wholesale-tag brands — long hidden in the back end of the retail supply chain — to the attention of ordinary consumers. New product releases shared online drew enthusiastic responses and cultivated loyal followings. Founders and Miel, two of the most prominent wholesale-tag brands, have amassed Instagram followings of 100,000 and 70,000, respectively.

Fashion platforms have taken notice of the growing popularity. They have made it possible to search for wholesale-tag brands by name within their platforms — an unusual move for labels that have not signed up as direct business-to-consumer sellers. The added searchability has translated into striking growth. According to Zigzag, operated by Kakao Style, Founders' transaction volume on the platform jumped 146 percent in the January–October period this year compared with the same period last year. Le Butter's transaction volume rose 35 percent over the same stretch.

Newer wholesale-tag brands are also turning heads. Search volume for Something Else, which has recently begun attracting attention, increased 14-fold in the January–October period, while its transaction volume surged 57-fold. All Over posted gains of 4.8 times and 14 times, respectively. "Transaction volumes for wholesale-tag brands have been consistently rising," Zigzag said. "As interest in wholesale-tag brands grows, newer labels are also sustaining high-growth momentum."

Industry observers say the brands' rising popularity is not unrelated to the strain of higher prices. "Over the past few years, global SPA brands have been moving upmarket, and customers feeling the pinch have turned to cheaper B2B products," one industry official said. "Demand for wholesale-tag items appears to have grown even more heading into the fall-winter season, when product prices tend to run higher than in other seasons."


soho0902@heraldcorp.com