The Jing Just take: On January 13, Sequoia Money China announced its acquisition of a greater part stake in the South Korean designer manufacturer WE11Performed. Together with Sequoia China, Mirabaud Way of life Influence & Innovation, a French fund established by Chanel’s fifth-technology heir, David Wertheimer, will sign up for as a minority shareholder in the firm.
The Seoul-centered WE11Completed is a unisex, designer-fulfills-streetwear manner brand name started in 2015 by Jessica Jung and Dami Kwon (the latter is also the sister of well known Korean idol G-DRAGON.) The partnership will leverage Sequoia China’s resources, technological innovations, and ground breaking retail experiences to speed up the brand’s enlargement in major world marketplaces like China, the US, and Europe. The two brand founders will continue to maintain important stakes in the company and guide the brand’s imaginative route right after the acquisition. Main operating officer, Sang Mo Kim, will also continue being in cost of the total organization.
This hottest go follows the undertaking cash firm’s expenditure in the French designer brand AMI and the Canadian luxury e-commerce internet site SSENSE throughout the earlier 12 months. Useless to say, because Angelica Cheung, previous editor in main of Vogue China, joined the Sequoia China board, it has quickly expanded while declaring a placement in the international trend business.
The Jing Consider: At the beginning of its journey, WE11Finished was based in Exceptional Market place, a Korean idea consumer store, but shortly grew to become preferred by cooperating with a number of European and American famous people. Though in the Chinese sector, the brand name was viewed on beloved domestic stars like Yang Mi, Ouyang Nana, and Cai Xukun, which quickly grew its level of popularity.
However, throughout a period when the influence of Chinese shoppers on the international manner marketplace is escalating in the experience of quickly-altering worldwide consumption traits, WE11Performed could have skipped its greatest option to tap into the Chinese marketplace. In the to start with several many years of its popularity, the apparel firm, which is not much from China, only served regional customers by partnering with multibrand or pop-up retailers.
Without having developing extensive-expression partnerships with domestic stars or launching a social media existence on nearby platforms, the manufacturer promptly fell off the map for Chinese people. In the meantime, its best Korean rival, Ader Error, has surpassed WE11DONE’s level of popularity on the way of life platform Xiaohongshu. On top of that, the model suffers enormously from counterfeits. WE11Done has not founded any presence on local e-commerce platforms. But, when hunting the brand on Taobao, quite a few faux versions of its products show up at one particular-3rd of its retail price tag. And, extra shockingly, the regular revenue of these objects exceed 300 pieces.
Still, the model enjoys remarkable consciousness in China and beyond. Its cooperation with Sequoia China may possibly gasoline new hopes for the label, supplied the undertaking money firm’s abilities and effective observe report. For instance, its 1st intercontinental M&A project — AMI — has already recognized a social existence on Chinese platforms and is attaining sizeable relevance in the area current market. Probably WE11Finished will be Sequoia China’s upcoming massive accomplishment tale?
The Jing Take reports on a piece of the primary information and provides our editorial team’s assessment of the key implications for the luxury field. In the recurring column, we analyze every thing from product or service drops and mergers to heated debate sprouting on Chinese social media.