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Musinsa aims to replicate Japan, China success in Southeast Asia
A promotional image for Musinsa's Rasisa campaign for Japan in September 2025 / Courtesy of Musinsa
By Ko Dong-hwan
Fashion and beauty shopping platform operator Musinsa is bolstering its global market expansion to Southeast Asia following its notable market growth in Japan and China last year.
The company said Friday it has designated Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia as key markets in the region. Adopting its successful marketing strategies used in the Japanese and Chinese markets, Musinsa plans to launch online and offline sales in the three countries.
The announcement came as the company posted 240 billion won ($167 million) in overseas transactions last year. Musinsa has been hosting pop-up stores and opening flagship stores overseas and distributing to countries through online platforms.
The largest growth came from Japan. Musinsa’s global online stores saw sales in Japan last year jump 145 percent from the previous year. The company’s products are also available at Japanese e-commerce platform ZoZo Town.
The online sales in Japan are not concentrated in major cities like Tokyo but instead are spread across broader regions, including Kanagawa prefecture, Osaka and Fukuoka. Musinsa said this shows its Korean fashion brands are no longer a transient trend in Japan but have become a solid category across the nation.
From left, Musinsa's promotional posters for Odd Type, Musinsa Standard Beauty and Whizzy / Courtesy of Musinsa
Musinsa’s offline market in Japan is also growing. Matin Kim, a Korean design brand exclusively distributed by Musinsa, opened its first offline store in Tokyo’s Shibuya last April. Musinsa will open two additional Matin Kim stores in Japan during the first half of the year and two offline Musinsa stores within the year. The expansion follows Musinsa’s five pop-ups in Japan since 2023.
In China, Musinsa has opened two offline stores in Shanghai, seeing over 100,000 visitors in 26 days. The city's East Nanjing Road will be the site of another store in March, with Hangzhou following later this year. Major Chinese e-commerce platform TMALL currently distributes Musinsa.
Musinsa’s beauty businesses have shown rising sales as well. Exports of the company’s private brands like Odd Type, Whizzy and Musinsa Standard Beauty last year jumped 161 percent from previous year.
Odd Type has expanded its global markets from Japan to Malaysia, Vietnam and Singapore. The label will begin distribution to the United States and Australia by the end of June. Whizzy, now available at 300 stores of major offline retailer Don Quijote in Japan, is fueling the beauty exports.
Musinsa's exports last year included over 3 million items under 4,000 K-fashion brands across 13 countries. The company said market growth of Korean small and medium-sized brand firms have contributed to its rising global presence.