2000Archives Revenue Triples as Kyndof Builds Momentum

Kyndof, led by chief executive Kim Seon-bin, says its womenswear brand 2000Archives has tripled its revenue from a year earlier, and the label is also drawing attention in overseas markets including Japan and Europe. 2000Archives is a womenswear brand built on the archiving of 2000s vintage labels, and in Korea it has built a substantial following with designs that pair a Y2K mood with the brand's own identity. Items such as the Matte Love Tee and the Football T-shirt became major hits and turned attention toward the label.

The push into overseas markets is continuing. The brand 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 the Hankyu department store in Osaka. A collaboration with a well-known European brand is lined up for the first half of next year.

The brand began not as a clothing maker but as a vintage clothing business. Hong Da-eun, creative director of 2000Archives, said: “The vintage clothing business was the brand's first start. At the time we handled a wide range of pieces from the late 1990s through the 2000s, from luxury collections such as Galliano and Dior to unique pieces with distinctive silhouettes or materials.” She added: “Because the brand did not begin by making clothes, the early fandom seems to have formed mainly among consumers who liked vintage clothing. The fandom then widened as we introduced designs inspired by vintage clothing.”

On why the name contains “2000,” Hong said: “The meaning of the brand name 2000Archives is that, looking back at any era, I thought nothing shows our characteristics as concisely as the 2000s.” She added: “We named the brand 2000Archives to encompass all of it: the year 2000 that opened a new era, the colors particular to that time, and vintage pieces.” The range extends from clothing carrying prints and details that reinterpret 2000s archiving in a trendy way to accessories such as stockings. Hong draws inspiration from two things, words and color, and works her own experience into the brand.

2000Archives runs a Sports Couture line and a Sports line at the same time. The Sports Couture line is the regular line that carries the brand's originality through bold cutting and prints, and it forms the brand's fashion shows at home and abroad. The Sports line is characterized by wearable designs at a relatively accessible price point below 200,000 won. Hong said: “Many customers like our brand's mood, but much of the clothing was hard to take on in terms of price or in everyday life. We recently officially launched the Sports line so that customers who love the brand's mood can approach it easily.” She added: “By offering clothing that consumers can choose more often and wear in everyday life, we are presenting the two lines together so that people can experience our brand relatively easily and then come to love the Sports Couture line as well.”

Conceptual pop-up stores have also become a pillar of the brand's visibility. A pop-up at The Hyundai Seoul that opened in April generated more than 100 million won in sales over seven days. Weekday sales were far higher than weekend sales, when shoppers usually gather in greater numbers, and the purchase conversion rate was overwhelming. On Oct. 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 ILLIT, HYBE's new girl group, visited and drew a crowd. The connection with ILLIT dates to the program R U Next?, for which 2000Archives supported costume production.

The Souvenir Collection is a Sports line created to target domestic consumers, made up of jogger pants, hoodies in several versions and sweatshirts that the brand had not offered before. Having drawn attention so far with bold and sexy designs, the company plans to widen its consumer target and focus on bringing in customers through the new Sports line and the Hannam-dong pop-up.

As the brand's volume and recognition have grown, hiring has picked up. Kyndof has strengthened its operations, business development, marketing and design teams, and to reinforce design it recruited a designer who had worked at global high-end brands including Bottega Veneta. That designer will begin working in earnest on the next regular season and on overseas collaborations, and the company plans to make significant changes across design, materials and other areas from that point. Next year it will expand domestic distribution and move actively into Southeast Asian markets such as Thailand, as well as Europe and Japan.

Hong said: “Collaborations with overseas and domestic brands are set for the first half of next year. We are preparing them with great care and hope people around the world will watch this collaboration.” She added: “In 2024 we will join with a new designer in earnest, raise the completeness of the clothes and focus on the collection itself.”