GENTLE MONSTER Annual Report

With Japan's economy continuing to develop, there are more opportunities for fashion industries. The speedy development of Japan's and the global economy has prompted an increase in popularity in the high-end fashion market. Men and women are becoming bored with stiff styles and unfashionable designs, and they want to have more choices in their purchase. The accessory as an initial part of the industry, is accessible for urban customers, which can show their distinctive personality and individuality.

GENTLE MONSTER is an eyewear brand form Korea, attracting lots of people’s attention through its exquisite designs, unique shapes, innovative colors, and strong brand image. Therefore, the GENTLE JELLY and GENTLE HIGHSCHOOLS campaigns that I made for this project not only to stimulate sales or increase awareness, but also highlight brand personality and spirit,

TO OUR SHAREHOLDERS

financial fortitude

Against a dynamic market backdrop, GENTLE MONSTER celebrated robust financial success in 2023. Our revenue soared to an unprecedented $8.7 million, marking a remarkable 23% growth. This triumph reflects the resilience and adaptability embedded in our core business strategy, providing a solid f oundation for continued growth and prosperity.

Despite economic uncertainties, GENTLE MONSTER commitment to financial excellence remains unwavering. We’ve navigated challenges with prudence and innovation, ensuring that our financial health aligns with our long-term vision. This success is not just about numbers; it’s a testament to the trust our shareholders place in our brand and the dedication of our global team.

global reach

GENTLE MONSTER’s influence expanded globally throughout 2023, strategically establishing a stronger presence in emerging markets. The diversity of global markets is mirrored in the diversity of our product offerings. Our commitment to meeting the unique tastes and preferences of different cultures remains a driving force. As we move into the future, our label is poised to adapt, innovate and lead in

SHAREHOLDERS

the mission

We are a radically experimental eyewear brand was founded in South korea in 2011 with the ambitious objective of crafting the perfect pair of frames. With house philosophies rooted in the purity of art, culture redesign, and pioneering technology, our label has and will continue to establish itsself firmly on the cutting edge of contemporary eyewear innovation.

the brand

GENTLE MONSTER is a designer eyewear brand that constantly develops itself under a philosophy of “high-end experimentation.” We strive to astonish the world with our main five focuses: Product, Space, Styling, Culture Redesign and Technology. We take great inspiration from contemporary are when crafting our frames and in-person stores. Through the cooperation and incorporation of designers, artists, engineers, kinetic sculptures and art installations, our brand not only makes wearing the glasses an immersive and innovative experience, but shopping for them in our stores as well.

Our company leads with a multi-conceptual approach, which is fittingly mirrored to our name. The creator of GENTLE MONSTER, Hankook Kim, said he wanted designs to be delicate and wearable (Gentle) and yet, full of attitude and

WHO WE ARE

Maison Margiela MM104

the audience

Our label and products are perfectly crafted for the style enthusiast that does not want to compromise on wearability.

the vision

We are the first eyewear brand to create exclusively unisex designs that will want to be worn by and flatter all genders, face shapes, features, and styles. Through our innovation of the eyewear market, we will create an intersection of fashion and contemporary art.

We were created for an audience that transcends gender exclusive fashion and desires to delve into a realm of style boundaries that push bast the binary. We are created for the individuals that do not fit into any singular label or category and are not afraid to stand out. We are created for fashion gurus that care deeply about the quality and ethicality of the products they purchase and wear. We are created for the unique.

Maison Margiela MM104

I found myself devising creative solutions for usual business issues and problems. I realised that my passion was in design and that I had an eye for it.

– Hankook Kim (Founder, CEO, Creative Director)

employee data

gentle monster website has 299 employees as of this year in postitions of designers, engineers, artits, marketers, and specialists on branding, global relations, sales, insights, and information technology.

This year, our team of employees grew 12 percent, and iscontinuing to grow as our products branch out further into the physical realm. The annual revenue of each of our employees for the official website averages at $250,800.

production and retail locations

When it comes to constructionour products, we maintain a carful eye over our manufacturing and are dedicated to commited quality. to ensure this, our company strictly produces from two trusted factories. Our primary center of production is located in Deagu, Korea, while the second manufactoring facility is located in China. Having our product construction close to home is a priority for keeping a close eye on the high status of each pair of glasses.

The gentle monster brand also finds it essential to avoid overcommercialization of our products. To stray away from this, our brand limits the amount of vendors and resellers worldwide. Currently, our products can be purchased at 450 different locations and 45 stand alone stores across 30 countries including South Korea, China, Japan, Thailand, United States, Portugal, Spain, Italy, etc.

OUR TEAM

the minds behind the brand

Xi-Hyu Lee – Ceative Directior

Gary Bott – Brand Directior

Hui Shan Ong – Brand Supervisor

Jihyung Kim – Art Directior

Hankook Kim – Founder, CEO, Creative Director

Wonhoo Moon – Spacial Design Director

the materials

As if uniqueness wasn’t enough, Gentle Monster’s will give your other galsses a run for their money in the quality department too. Our lenses are made by Zeiss of super sharp camera lens fame, which makes your pair sturdy and breaking or damaging them no easy feat.

Alongside your standard cellulose acetate and steel frames, we experiment with chrome, titanium and other premium metals to create the intricate silhouettes our customers desire.

The cellulose acetate used in our eyewear is easily adjustable to individuals’ facial structures due to its resistance to snapping under heating and bending. We invite our wearers to take theirs the service desk at our stores to get their pair custom-fitted to their faces. This service is free and takes minutes. Customers are also be able to get their glasses polished and adjusted here for the entire lifespan of their pair.

PRODUCT LINE

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Awave

Kro

Third Kind

Ojo

Atomic Zodiac

the buying experience

GENTLE MONSTER stores have be come a frontrunner in experimental retail design as we know it today. With next-level shop interiors, driven by otherworldly design concepts and installations to match, our in house team is always creating a fantastical story behind each store.

Thanks to our highly immersive in-store experiences, our brand is known to be more than just an eyewear company. Each store’s goal is to mimic a contemporary gallery containing life-sized objects and sculptures. With each individual store differing, the displays elevate the experience beyond just the practicality of shopping in a mall.

With our products displayed throughout the stores as pieces in a museum, and installations such as robots performing martial arts movements, our team of 60 retail designers fosters an entire new crowd of customers that are interested in more than just glasses.

With each individual store differing, the displays elevate the buying experience beyond just the practicality of shopping in a mall.

sunglasses

Gelati

Sugar Buff

Dada

Juicy

Benven

Nova

Dear Void

retail at a glance

45 Retail Stores 7 Stores Opened 8 Pop-up Shops

This year was a major retail success for GENTLE MONSTER when it came to branching out our stores and expanding our name globally. As of 2023, we currently opperate 45 stand alone retail stores across 21 countries, each with their own unique design and layout that changes every 21 days. Of these locations, seven were newly opened this year. Two of these stores are now located in the United States, two in South Korea,

21 Countries

Outside of these permanent locations, we were able to open up eight limited-time pop-up shops to celebrate and campaign for this year's new collections: GENTLE JELLY, GENTLE HIGH SCHOOL, and our 2023 collaboration with Maison Margiela. Of these exclusive events, six were held in Seoul, and four were held in Beijing. Due to the success of our pop-up shops this year, we plan to expand future ones globally in the coming years.

red dot design award

GENTLE MONSTER was delighted and humbled to receive the Red Dot Design award in Brands and Communication Design for our retail store concept, "Error in the Beat," in Shanghai, China. The Red Dot Design Award is one of the world’s largest design competitions. The Red Dot Label has become established internationally as one of the most sought-after marks of quality for good design.

Receiving a Red Dot is a recognition of high design quality and creativity. It offers winners exclusive opportunities to communicate their success to employees, existing and potential customers, business partners and the media. With over 34,000 entries, becoming one of the winners solidifies our label in it's ability to be in the cutting edge of fashion and retail design.

ACHIEVEMENTS

marketing at a glance

4 Collaborations

2 New Collections 62

Ongoing Collections

Every year, GENTLE MONSTER' s creative team works tirelessly to develop never-before-seen designs and silhouettes for eyeglasses in order for our brand to remain on the forefront of innovation. This year was no exception as we debuted our two new collections, GENTLE JELLY, and our 2023 optical collection. With these two new lines, our company has created a grand total of 62 collections, all of which are ongoing and restocked periodically on our website.

authenticity guarantee

At GENTLE MONSTER, one of our prime initiatives is qualty and authenticity. This reason is what lead us in our decision to limit our amount of outside retailers and to ultimately create a way to ensure that all of our customers receive authentic, unreplicable GENTLE MONSTER glasses.

" CODE PINK" is an anti-counterfeit campaign where all owners of a pair of our glasses can check the authenticity of their frames through an online portal on our website. In further attempt to globally eradicate the distribution of counterfeit products, we have conveniently listed all retail stores and online retail sellers on our wesite. This cautionary measure provides great piece of mind to our customers as well as establish our brand as genuine and unrepeatable to our business partners.

As for collaborations, we made it our initiative this year to remain timeless while still giving our audience the unexpected. Our four new collaborations of this year made that goal a success. With new collaborations alongside long-term partners like Maison Margiela and unexpected partnerships with brands such as gaming monster, Blizzard, our deigners created lines of advanced and unique products

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" CODE PINK" is an anti-counterfeit campaign where all owners of a pair of our glasses can check the authenticity of their frames through an online portal on our website.

AND INITIATIVES

gentle jelly

The GENTLE JELLY campaign reveals a daring line of eyewear that whimsically captures unique characteristics of jelly. Photographed by Elizaveta Porodina, sleek and refined wrap-around silhouettes combined with a delicious set of colorways inspired by friuts and gummy candies front the collection–further adding to our iconic roster of innovative eyewear. This campaign utilizes alien-esque models in body paint and our sleek yet delectable goggle sunglasses to convey the futuristic and otherworldly style of this line.

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Sleek and refined wrap-around silhouettes combined with a delicious set of colorways inspired by friuts and gummy candies front the collection.

Due to the success of this online campaign, we extended the futuristic and fruity experience into the physical realm with our GENTLE JELLY pop-up shops in Seoul and Beijing. The installations featured in the shops include giant jelly pouch sculptures with assorted jelly props alongside our otherwordly mannequins, all adorning items from the collection.

CAMPAIGNS

Photographed by Elizaveta Porodina

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In our animated reimagining of the high school experience, the visuals present uniform-clad school girls as the pinnacle of cool.

gentle high school

GENTLE HIGH SCHOOL was created to launch and market our 2023 optical collection. The campaign highlights GENTLE MONSTER’s interpretation of the high school experience, a phase where individuality and self-expression are celebrated. In our animated reimagining of the high school experience, the visuals present uniform-clad school girls as the pinnacle of cool. Starring actress Nana Komatsu and musician Shinichi Osawa, the campaign introduces them to distinctive classes in robotics and martial arts, delivered through GENTLE MONSTER’s unique curriculum. The futuristc, action-packed aesthetic takes great inspiration from high-school-based and cult-classic animes.

This campaign also featured two pop-up shops in Seoul and Beijing. During the event, all visitors not only view the large installations of mechanical robots and futuristic sculptures, but also partake in the interactivity of it by getting their picture taken in the photobooth to receive their own GENTLE HIGH SCHOOL student ID card. This way, everyone has the ability to experience high school through the lense of this campaign.

maison margiela

This year, we revealed our second collaborative collection with Maison Margiela, the innovative, high end fashion label from Paris. This collection is the culmination of a blend of technology and aesthetics, highlighting a futuristic outlook alongside exquisite craftsmanship. It delves into both brands’ unique approaches to fashion and the philosophies that underpin them.

With this collection we are unveiling eyewear encased in leather for the first time. Handcrafted with precision by artisans, the leather frames feature four iconic white stitches, seamlessly blending both brands’ experimental spirit and aesthetics to introduce a fresh take on eyewear.

Technology meets aesthetics with our series of templess mask sunglasses, the MM101 and MM102. Highlighted at the Maison Margiela Co-Ed 2024 S/S show, these two products showcase a futuristic and organic touch. Their voluminous and metallic designs elegantly envelop the contours of the eyes and nose.

The complete collection explores a wide range of color and silhouettes and offers 17 styles of frames ranging from progressive design sunglasses to timeless, minimalistic glasses—all showcasing enriched signature colorways.

COLLABORATIONS

Maison Margiela MM101

“A special package consisting of Tokki exclusive eyewear in a mystery colorway, detachable D.Va figure, Overwatch 2 free in-game redemption code, and an in-game limited edition D.Va gaming skin.

COLLABORATIONS

overwatch

This year, GENTLE MONSTER partnered with Blizzard Entertainment for an Overwatch 2 release. Inspired by D.Va, one of the game’s most iconic characters, her MEKA headset is now reimagined as a pair of statement goggle-like sunnies. Offered in pink and blue, the respective hue is iterated on both the lens as well as the “antennas” that emulates the appearance of omnidirectional mics.

The special collaborative sunglasses come with a detachable, silver D.Va figure for styling and display, a futuristic-looking protective case that’s soft and fastened with snap closures. Each pair is also accompanied by an Overwatch 2 season 5 free redemption code, as well as an in-game limited-edition D.Va gaming skin.

Tokki WM

data overview

According to the retail sales from 2013 to 2018, the worldwide retail industry is continuing to grow and evolve. In 2017, the global retail sale is projected to amount to 26.83 trillion dollars, and will predict to reach 28.3 trillion dollars in 2018.

The market size of the global apparel industry from 2012-2025 shows an increasing growth. In the next decade, the market size not only will continue to increase in developed countries,but also in developing countries especially China.

global footprint

GENTLE MONSTER is committed to maintaining and strengthening its leading position in the markets where it operates. We also focus on evaluating opportunities to further penetrate emerging markets, a key driver of our longterm growth strategy. Our brand aims to increase its market presence through stronger retail distribution and networking connections alongside retailers we have built relationships with and further growing its digital platforms.

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We also focus on evaluating opportunities to further penetrate emerging markets, a key driver of our longterm growth strategy.

GLOBAL ANALYSIS

gender distribution

56.56%

Female

43.35%

Male

age distribution

18-24

25-34

35-44

45-54

55-64 65+

28.44%

35.96%

15.87%

10.23%

6.25% 3.25%

TARGET ANALYSIS

ANALYSIS

Compared to last year, our revenue faced a

62% Increase

Million

“As we continue to expand our brand on a global level, we can expect an exponential growth in direct sales as well as returning customers, driving up our net growth for future years.

As we continue to expand our brand on a global level, we can expect an exponential growth in direct sales as well as returnign customers, driving up our net growth in future years. Ytt

During the fiscal year, 33 percent of our earnings came from online buyers, making the website revenue of GENTLE MONSTER $ 82.5 million. Of our total revenue, 70 percent came from direct sales, totaling to $175 million dollars. This number is a reflection of the net increase in sales due to seven new retail stores opening across the globe.

REVENUE AND INVESTMENTS

The implications of this funding signal a new chapter of accelerated growth and expansion for the GENTLE MONSTER . It provides the financial runway needed to develop or 60+ products designed each year as well as leway for the expansion of our retail marketing strategies. This level of funding will also facilitate strategic partnerships and campaigns for future years.

Our investors' substantial stakes in our business will not only push directly push the boundaried of eyeglasses technology, but allow us to open doors to an expansive network of industry connections, potentially leading to lucrative opportunities and collaborations. This financial backing not only fuels the company's immediate growth objectives but also lays a solid foundation for it to redefine the eyewear industry's future.

Our largest investor, LVMH, invested a stake of $44.7 Million

We have raised a total funding of $53.2 Million

INVESTMENTS

innability to innovate

The market segments of mid- and premium-priced prescription frames and sunglasses in which we compete are particularly vulnerable to changes in fashion trends and consumer preferences. Our historical success is attributable, in part, to our introduction of innovative products which are perceived to represent an introduction of products otherwise unavailable in the market. Our future success will depend on our continued ability to develop and introduce such innovative products and continued success in building our brand.

If we are unable to do so, sales could be affected, inventory levels could rise, leading to additional costs for storage and potential write-downs relating to the value of excess inventory. Moreover, there could be a negative impact on production costs since fixed costs would represent a larger portion of total production costs due to the decline in quantities produced, which could materially adversely affect our results of operations.

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Our future success will depend on our continued ability to develop and introduce such innovative products and ontinued succuss in building our brand.

RISKS AND DRIVERS

Photographed by Elizaveta Porodina

As we proceed in the future, it is necessary to remember the importance of staply pieces and continuously rolling these products out along with new and experimental designs. “

our main selling points

GENTLE MONSTER' s bestsellers have proven over time to be our frames that remain clssic, sleek, and timeless. This includes optical products with solid metal or solid black frames as well as sunglasses in neutral colors and shapes that are universally flattering to all. As we proceed in the future, it is necessary to remember the importance of staple pieces and continuously rolling these products out to our audience along with new and experimental designs.

DRIVERS

Our other main selling point is the attractiveness of our retail stores. With interactive elements and art installations that are all completely unique to each location, these spaces serve as strong drivers to our customers and their desire to visit our stores and purchase our products. To make sure this driver remains effective, our creative team works to change the layout and overall experience of each storefront every 21 days. This way, customers can keep coming back to the same location but still see something new

Photographed by Elizaveta Porodina

GENTLE MONSTER FURTHER ESTABLISHED THEMSELVES AS THE HIGH-END FASHION BRAND TO WATCH IN THE YEAR OF 2023 WITH CUTTING EDGE TECHNOLOGY AND DESIGN BROUGHT TO UNIVERSALLY FLATTERING EYEWEAR. THIS YEAR, THE BRAND IS CONTINUING THEIR PLACE IN THE FOREFRONT OF STYLE BY EXPANDING THEIR DOMAIN GLOBALLY. WITH THE FUSION OF CONTEMPORARY ART AND FUNCTIONALITY, GENTLE MONSTER HAS CREATED A BRAND UNLIKE ANYTHING ON THE MARKET.