Zegna Group, the owner of the Thom Browne brand, announced it has reached an agreement with its Korean partner of 12 years, Samsung C&T Corporation, which will see Thom Browne directly operate its Korean business via a newly formed and wholly owned company, Thom Browne Korea.
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The New York-based Thom Browne will assume direct responsibility for all activities within the Korean market, with external support from Samsung.
In doing so, Samsung and Thom Browne will continue their collaboration through an innovative retail management agreement, effective July 1, 2023, through which Samsung will manage Thom Browne’s wholly owned network of 17 stores in Korea, according to a press release.
“Samsung is one our best partners for the development of Thom Browne around the world. We always appreciated their understanding of our fundamental values, and their ability to offer a very faithful representation of the brand to a sophisticated Korean audience,” said Rodrigo Bazan, chief executive of Thom Browne.
“We are very happy to continue our strong partnership going forward. We believe in the strong potential to expand our business in the Korean market, and this innovative agreement provides a solid platform that perfectly combines our respective strengths.”
In 2011, Thom Browne opened its first South Korean store in Hyundai Main Department Store, Seoul, and went on to open in Lotte Main, The Hyundai Seoul and Shinsegae Gangnam.
In its most recent trading update in January, Thom Browne reported 4Q 2022 revenues of EUR 76 million (USD 82.6 million), up 11.5 percent year-over-year. In FY 2022, Thom Browne posted revenues of EUR 331 million, up 25.3 percent year-over-year.
Despite Covid-related restrictions and closures affecting the DTC channel, positive performance was sustained by strong wholesale demand, e-commerce through T-mall in China, and the contribution of 11 net store openings in 2022, bringing the total number of directly operated stores to 63 globally at the end of 2022.