Golf apparel goes trendy and upmarket in Korea on rise of young golfers

As the popularity of golf grows in South Korea, particularly among young people, golf clothes are becoming increasingly more expensive and fashionable as a kind of status symbol.

Handsome Corp., a fashion company affiliated with Hyundai Department Store Group, said on Monday it has partnered with French fashion house Lanvin to create the premium golf clothing label Lanvin Blanc.

Handsome said it is launching Lanvin Blanc, a name that combines Lanvin with the French word blanc, meaning white, to particularly target young people in their 20s and 30s, who enjoy playing golf amid its boom in Korea.

Handsome, which signed a licensing agreement with Lanvin in 2007, has exclusive distribution rights for the sale of the French brand's clothes in Korea.

Its Lanvin Blanc products come with a high price tag.

Lanvin Blanc golf jackets are priced between 490,000 won and 2 million won ($375-$1,533) while golf tops sell between 238,000 won and 898,000 won, according to the company.

Handsome said it is handling the entire process, from design to production, for the launch of Lanvin Blanc golf clothes.

It will open its first Lanvin Blanc offline store at Hyundai Department Store’s headquarters in Seoul's posh Apgujeong district this month, and three more stores in southern Seoul later.

The company will also sell Lanvin Blanc golf wear products on its website later this month.

“Our goal is to achieve annual sales of 30 billion won within three years of launch and 50 billion won in annual sales by 2027,” said a Handsome official.

GOLF APPAREL MARKET HEATS UP

Handsome’s launch of the Lanvin Blanc brand comes as the Korean golf apparel market is burgeoning alongside a golf boom in the country.

About 40 new brands, including Samsung C&T Fashion Group’s women’s apparel brand KUHO, were newly launched in Korea in the second half of last year.

Fashion company Kolon Industries FNC, which joined hands with luxury US golf and lifestyle brand G/FORE, posted annual sales of 40 billion won from its golf clothing sales just a year after their collaboration.

In overseas markets, US sports equipment manufacturing companies Callaway Golf, Pearly Gates, and Ping posted sales of 152 billion won, 125.7 billion won and 110.6 billion won, respectively, from their golf wear business last year.

According to the Korea Leisure Industry Institute, the number of golfers in Korea reached 5.15 million in 2021, up 33.4% from 3.86 million in 2017. The domestic golf wear market grew 21.7% in two years from 4.6 trillion won in 2019 to 5.6 trillion won last year.

Experts are divided on the potential for further growth in the domestic golf attire market.

Until the first half of this year, industry officials expected the local market to slow as the COVID-19 pandemic appears to have become endemic. New and used golf clubs showed up for sale on secondhand goods online markets such as Danggeun Market and Joonggonara.

However, with the recent easing of overseas travel ban measures, the popularity of golf will likely continue for a considerable period, according to industry officials.

“Fashion companies are launching new golf apparel goods amid expectations that demand will be solid for the next two to three years,” said a local fashion industry official.

Write to Jeong-Cheol Bae at bjc@hankyung.com
In-Soo Nam edited this article.