I thought it was the waiting line for the Chanel store… Arquette lined up for 200 people

“The line was so long, I thought it was the waiting line for the Chanel store.”

This is a statement from a consumer who visited the Swedish manufacturing and direct sales (SPA) brand’ARKET’, which established a nest in’The Hyundai Seoul’ in Yeouido, the largest department store in Seoul. Arquette The Hyundai Seoul, which is also the first store in Asia, lined up for 200 people on the first day of its pre-opening on the 24th of last month. On this day, Arquette ranked 7th in the Hyundai Seoul sales rankings.

Arquette, which has gained popularity in this way, is a brand under the world’s top three SPA H&M groups, and is characterized by its’sustainable fashion’. In the distribution industry, Arquette’s popularity background is interpreted because the MZ generation (millennial generation + generation Z born after 1995), who are enthusiastic about’value consumption’, is committed to sustainable fashion.

“Aim for the MZ generation”… The apparel industry fought for’eco-friendly marketing’

In the past, SPA brands, which were criticized for mass production of clothing waste at low prices, are vigorously emphasizing the eco-friendly aspect to target the MZ generation, which is the mainstream consumer.

The Spanish SPA brand Zara announced that it will apply sustainable and recycled materials to all fabrics such as cotton, linen and polyester used in its apparel products by 2025. Swedish SPA brand H&M is also planning to replace all products released by 2030 with sustainable materials. SPA, a domestic SPA brand, also introduced the’Eco Spao’ line last year, which cuts the use of water and chemicals by more than half.

SPA brands aren’t the only ones targeting MZ generation wallets with sustainable fashion marketing. As the garbage problem has emerged as a social problem, the clothing industry is generally eager to’eco-friendly marketing’.

Shinsegae International launched the brand ’10MONTH’ last year. It means selling clothes that can be worn for 10 months, not one season of the year. The brand’s aim is to make clothes that can be worn for a long time rather than just clothes with excellent design. Tenmans achieved its target sales four times in eight months of launch.

Hyosung TNC, a subsidiary of Hyosung Group’s textile business, launched an eco-friendly clothing brand’G3H10′ last month. The first letter’G’ of the brand name G3H10 stands for’Green’, an index that symbolizes the environment. The first product was made of yarn produced from recycled PET bottles and organic cotton extracted from non-pesticide-free cotton.

Youngone Outdoor’s North Face recycled 100 tons of Jeju Samdasoo plastic bottles collected in Jeju and introduced 16 types of’North Face K-Eco’ collections, including jackets, hoodies, sweatshirts, and short-sleeved T-shirts.

Experts analyzed this trend as the change that appeared in favor of’value consumption’ by the MZ generation, which has established itself as the main consumer class in the industry.

Seo Yong-gu, a professor of business administration at Sookmyung Women’s University, said, “The increase in plastic and waste emissions has become a social problem.” “The clothing industry is putting emphasis on the environment rather than on growth in order to capture the MZ generation with such values,” he explained.

Consumers I met at the actual site were also making purchases with value consumption in mind. Lee So-jung (23), a college student who visited the Arquette store on the 3rd of this month, said, “Generally, SPA brand clothes are of a quality enough to wear only one season,” he said.

Han Sun-ah, a 34-year-old office worker who aims to’empty the closet’, said, “I will not buy a single set of clothes next year. To do that, I have to buy quality clothes this year.” Mr. Han said, “I bought Arquette products by direct purchase overseas, but the quality is good, so I visited the store this time.”

Reporter Lee Mi-kyung, Hankyung.com [email protected]