2000Archives Widens Its Audience and Pushes Upmarket

2000Archives, the womenswear line run by Kyndof under chief executive Kim Seon-bin, has tripled sales year on year and is drawing attention in overseas markets including Japan and Europe. It made its presence felt at a Musinsa pop-up in Japan in April, and in December it will take part in a pop-up at Hankyu Department Store in Osaka to keep that momentum going. A collaboration with a well-known European brand is also lined up for the first half of next year.

Response at pop-up stores has been strong, because the conceptual spaces that convey the brand’s distinctive mood have consistently drawn attention. A pop-up that opened at The Hyundai Seoul in April took more than 100 million won over seven days. In keeping with the brand’s strong fandom, weekday sales ran far ahead of weekends, when general shoppers are more numerous, and the purchase conversion rate was overwhelming.

On October 6 the brand opened a pop-up store on Hannam-daero in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, to mark the launch of its Souvenir Collection. A DJ party was held alongside it, and on opening day members of Hybe’s new girl group ILLIT visited, drawing crowds. 2000Archives had previously supported costume production for ILLIT on the R U Next program.

The Souvenir Collection is a sports line created to appeal to domestic consumers, offering jogger pants, hoodies in several versions and sweatshirts that the brand had not previously carried. Known until now for bold, sensual designs, it plans to use the new sports line and the Hannam-dong pop-up to broaden its consumer target and draw in new customers.

As the brand’s volume and recognition grow, hiring has picked up. It has reinforced its operations, business development, marketing and design teams, and to strengthen design it recruited a designer who previously worked at global high-end brands including Bottega Veneta. That designer will work in earnest on the next regular season and on overseas collaborations, and the brand plans to make significant changes to design, materials and other areas from that point. Next year it will expand domestic distribution while actively pursuing Europe, Japan and Southeast Asian markets such as Thailand.

Director Hong said, “Overseas and domestic brand collaborations are set for the first half of next year. We are preparing them with great care and hope many people, people all over the world, will watch this collaboration,” adding that “in 2024 we will join forces with a new designer in earnest, raise the level of the clothes and focus on the collection itself.”