KASUI by Haegeon Kang

KASUI CONTEMPORARY LOUNGEWEAR

TABLE OF CONTENT BACKGROUND OF IDEA

KASUI

VISION, MISSION AND CORE VALUES

CONSUMER PROFILE

INITIAL PRODUCT CATEGOREIS AND FEATURES

LOUNGEWEAR MARKET SITUATION AND GAP

ENTRY STRATEGY

BUSINESS ACTION PLAN AT ENTRY STAGES

BACKGROUND OF IDEA In recent years, home became a new place to go out. It is a cultural trend. Home is beyond a residential space where you meaninglessly sleep and eat. Home is a new temple where people escape to find their stability of mind from the unpredictable realities of the outside world. Home can be an entertainment space which is also a way to represents individual characters. This staying-at-home trend is described as “Cocooning” by the top trend spotter Faith Popcorn CEO. There are several reasons for the staying-at-home trend such as the long term economic depressions and inflation make people hard to go out and spend a cent. Recent global events, the ISIS attacks, Ebola, San Bernardino shooting and others, also push non-Cocooning people to jump on the trend. Furthermore, more and more people watch the latest films, shop and dine at home. Home entertainment systems have become complex with high qualities. Companies offering flexible work schedules are increasing. The Third Annual List is based on an analysis of more than 40,000 companies and the jobs they posted on FlexJobs in 2015. It saw a 36% increase in the number of remote working. Thanks to always-on internet connection, people are still connected with others even when they stay at home. They are able to show off their personal living life via photo messages with friends or even with random strangers on SNS. This cocooning trend seems threating businessmen who sell products or services to people but it is just a changing of consumer behaviors. “Cocooners” are not hermits or a western version of Hikikomori that are seeking extreme degrees of isolation from the social life. Even a large portion of consumers in the $35,000-$50,000 annual-income bracket identified themselves as heavy cocooners. “The emerging cocoon of home entertainment is being led by a new, technologically sophisticated and more culturally diverse American consumer,” says Andrew Hare, senior analyst for Magid, a leading research-based strategic consulting firm. Another example is an American company Home Depot that sells home improvement needs. Home Depot is one of the top four best performers in the stock market in 2015 and the company is dramatically increasing. This is because when people stay home longer and longer and they want their houses to be practical, polished, trying to have everything is in their houses so they can stay at home comfortably but still not behind fashion. Euromonitor International says “Consumers are turning homes into lifestyle hubs and this trend is in part responsible for the household expenditure of US $400 billion that will be spend globally on household appliances by 2016.” People whom like staying home do spend their money but just their consuming behavior will be different than traditional consumers. 3

BACKGROUND OF IDEA AND FASHION This staying-home and working-at-home trends are creating a new opportunity in the fashion market. Loungewear is a wide clothing category for people staying home including home wear, room wear, sleeping wear and nightwear. Current loungewear clothes are only focusing on indoor home behaviors which do not look appropriate to show up in front of others. For this reason, there are many people who just wear old clothes as loungewear that they wouldn’t wear for going out, rather than special loungewear because they are not shown to others anyway. This has been considered “normal” or people just dress up as if they go out which is pretty much uncomfortable. However, people’s life is changing. Populations of people working at home are increasing. Owens, a trend forecaster at WGSN, points out that high-fashion fitness clothes, and sweatpants are just as likely to be seen at start-up offices as they are at the gym. It is easy to see this coming if you were paying attention to the booming gig economy. A fashion trend-forecaster takes a prediction that 40% of Americans will be working from home by 2020 and translates it into real-life fashion consequences, suddenly seeing an increased amount of stretchy cotton in your future wardrobe. Even when people are at home, they record and expose their life in real time with phones and SNS nowadays. They play, rest and broadcast their living life. Besides, people have many home deliveries so they have to get out of their doors to get parcels at least. Old clothes which are “future rags” will not be used as loungewear to modern people. Somehow in fashion, there are not enough choices for those staying-home people. Although some people find their own style, it is not easy for everyone. Therefore, there is an increasing number of people want to wear stylish loungewear that are still comfortable to be in but also look decent to show up to others, especially, among staying-home cocooning people, home-based businesses and home workers.

KASUI

CONTEMPORARY LOUNGEWAR KASUI introduces a new concept of contemporary loungewear that merges home wear and business casual wear styles with cutting edge fabrics and details. KASUI products are refined, advantageous and relaxed to fit in for conscious people. KASUI style will be unique with the new concept of contemporary loungewear in the fashion market. KASUI design is standing at the border between two different categories; home wear and business casual wear. It will be a hybrid look that designed for home and other settings, such as during work, casual or social occasions. People can smartly wear KASUI for Home-to-Street. KASUI can be compared with the rising hybrid concept, Athleisure which is Gym-to-Street clothing. Athleisure is having a big moment right now, according to IBIS Group, and has grown 17% in the past three years. This Athleisure trend is moving forward from Gym-to-Street to Gym-toWork. People like to wear Gym-to-Work clothes due to its comfort. However, it has limits because Athleisure is based on training clothes so there are only a few choices that can be comfortably worn at work. L.A. fashion publicist Samantha Slaven-Bick, said she’s paid up to $300 for athleisure pants and wears them to the office almost every day. ”But I’d want my employees to dress a little nicer,” However, she’s seeing active-style clothing everywhere. “It’s what everyone wants to wear these days.” KASUI’s Home-to-Work look will be an alternative of the Athleisure look of Gym-to-Work. This will fulfill the new consumer demand in the fashion market. KASUI will sell a lifestyle. Companies specializing in hybrid clothes such as Lululemon and Oysho do more than selling apparels, they sell a lifestyle. Shoppers who pay for these brands are motivated to buy because they get lifestyle benefits that come with the clothing. The core is not on the products themselves is on stories behind the brands. This also stimulates consumers to keep buying. KASUI will collaborate with other lifestyle brands not only clothes but also other items. KASUI website and shops will not be merely selling stores but communities for partying-working-relaxing-at-home people and all about interiors and healthy lifestyle. Through these lifestyle brand activities, KASUI will create added values itself and customer loyalties.

VISION Smarten up people’s living life

MISSION KASUI offers affordable cutting edge fashion items that are comfortably worn and used within people’s living spaces without compromising style

CORE VALUES Innovation / Consciousness / Engagement / Community 7

CONSUMER PROFILE - Men and women between late 20â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s and early 40â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s - Settled down with steady incomes above the average - Living in urban or suburban contexts with various facilities within reach - People know how to care and treat themselves - Interested in well-being life, people cook and eat healthy at home - Casually Inviting friends to their houses and also organizing home-parties - Like to decorate their spaces - Regularly shop online - Using SNS regularly - Not trend setter but trying to keep clean and neat with their look

INITIAL PRODUCT CATEGORIES AND FEATURES KASUI is perfect for people with a contemporary living lifestyle. KASUI reinterprets classic fashion items and turns them into classy loungewear by - Using stretch fabrics for formal shapes of garments which allow wearers look comfortably classy. - Adapting cutting-edge techniques such as taping, flat and seamless stitches on details like zippers and pockets to give extra comfort and functionality. - Lots of sustainable materials will be used through the whole products and organic fabrics must be used for clothing types that are touching directly wearersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; skin. - Materials should be light and functional. - Only Solid colors and gentle prints will feature throughout products to keep the brand design classy.

TOP Short Sleeve Shirts / Long Sleeve Shirts / Sweatshirts Made with organic fabrics, using flat stitch seam, taping details, e.g. Jersey polo with a taping zipper, Basic round/V neck shirts with flat stitches.

BOTTOMS Short Pants / Long Pants / Jogger Pants / Boxer Pants Soft-touch stretch jersey is the key fabric, closing pockets will be important to carry valuables, fitted cuff are avoided not to have the too much training look, trying to keep the look of the classic fashion items, banded/ draw string/rope waist band for comfort e.g. long and short jersey chinos, Jersey slacks, Cropped jersey jogger pants. Boxer pants are a new type of an indoor pant. This will look like a tight short chino with swimming pantsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; mesh lining details but with soft-touch fabric. A single piece of boxer pants can be worn as normal pants as boxers at home and nearby.

INITIAL PRODUCT CATEGORIES AND FEATURES OUTERS Jersey Jackets / Hoodies / Cardigans / Robe Clothing details mentioned above will also be used for outers. Robe is widely used as a home outer. In order to avoid the typical home look, KASUI robe will have more prints and patterns and the silhouette should be updated like an oversized coat.

PAJAMAS

Pajamas have the same design principles as robe such as prints, patterns and silhouette

UNDERWEARS SHOES

Slippers / Slip-on for indoor used

ACCESSORIES Key Chains / Necklace for keys and money / Sleeping Masks / Cushion To carry your valuables when you get out of your house and some sleeping items 12

LOUNGEWEAR MARKET AND GAP

Luxury brands offer nice fashion forward loungewear but their price range is extremely high so they are not always affordable for the average consumers. Private Brands offer good quality loungewear at reasonable prices, but they ordinarily have rather basic design. Oysho for instance, has a high name value in the loungewear category. They do offer fashionable items at good prices. However, there are not many brands such Oysho. The price ranges of fast fashion brands are very affordable with the latest trendy designs. They also have nice brand images for loungewear with world famous models like David Gandy and David Beckham. Most loungewear brands, except a few brands like Oysho and Comfy Copenhagen, have design aesthetics based on sleep wear that is usually not ideal for going out of the house. At the moment, fashion forward loungewear brands at the mid-price range is a blue ocean that a new brand can fit in to. 13

ENTRY STRATEGY KASUI is in a clothing category based on a lifestyle, so more specific approaches that are attuned to people with the stay-at-home behavior will be needed. Therefore, an online strategy needs to be the most important part and it must build a good reputation. SNS such as Instagram will play an important role in order to increase the popularity and to have a brand image for the target group. This could generate a word of mouth on online because our consumer group likes to share their life. The official website of KASUI wouldn’t be a “web store”. It will be a web platform that shares lifestyle news and supports communities. It will give not only a clothing brand image of KASUI but also giving the living-style brand impression of KASUI. Collaboration advertising campaign with other lifestyle brand will work effectively. For example, a look book with appliances like a home-coffee machine will have an effective synergy for both brands. Physical sales have the same principle, shop in shop taking space in another life style brand like a furniture store or other multi brand stores first. When there is an official store of KASUI, it will be a hybrid place where is a cafe, a community for Kinfolk and cocooning life style people and there will be a “clothing section” together in the place. Positiong at the Red circle basis on Michael Porter‘s Generic Strategies

BUSINESS ACTION PLAN AT ENTRY STAGES Stage 1. Building a brand image - Start with a capsule collection with a few key items that can have a complete classy-home-wear - Open a pop-up store - Small accessories are made mostly for customer goody bags - Open a web store like lifestyle magazine/news - SNS marketing started with different life style images while hiring SNS celebrities Stage 2. Starting a real commerce business - Opening a concept store in Amsterdam. - Producing a collection with full categories and accessories. - Having Shop-in-Shop locations. - Advertising and sponsorships with fashion and life style brands/magazines. Stage 3. Settling down as a decent fashion brand - N.O.S items clearly decided and strengthen categories selling well. - Opening brand stores with a hybrid living store; cafe, interior items and so on in different locations. - Collaborating capsule collections with non-clothing brands, also souvenir clothes for life style brands. - Trying to open pop-up stores in other countries.