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The ZOZOTOWN in Musinsa collaboration between Musinsa and ZOZOTOWN features elements inspired by Korean streets, including a crosswalk. Korea Times photo by Son Seong-won

Fashion platform Musinsa has teamed up with ZOZOTOWN, one of Japan’s leading online fashion retailers, to open a pop-up store in Seongsu-dong, Seoul, a popular destination for young consumers.

Musinsa opened the doors to ZOZOTOWN in Musinsa, the Japanese platform’s first official pop-up store in Korea, to the media on Friday. The pop-up will run through Oct. 31, while an accompanying online promotion will continue until Nov. 16.

Launched in 2004, ZOZOTOWN features more than 11,000 brands and serving over 13 million customers annually. Fifteen Japanese fashion brands available on the platform, including Snidel and Grancy, are participating in the event.

The pop-up’s concept, ZOZO is Coming to Town, draws inspiration from Korean streets. Crosswalks, road markings and oversized three-dimensional typography have been incorporated into the space to create the impression of an intersection where Korean and Japanese fashion meet.

The pop-up follows the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the two platforms in December 2024 to establish a strategic partnership. In November last year, Musinsa opened its own store on ZOZOTOWN’s online platform, featuring around 2,100 Korean fashion and beauty brands.

Their collaboration has since expanded from online retail to offline events. Musinsa participated in a ZOZOTOWN pop-up in Nagoya in February, while ZOZOTOWN joined Musinsa’s pop-up event in Tokyo in August. Musinsa also plans to operate a ZOZOTOWN booth in Osaka this month.

Through the Seongsu-dong pop-up, ZOZOTOWN aims to gauge Korean consumers’ response to Japanese brands.

“Until now, ZOZOTOWN has introduced Korean fashion to Japanese customers,” said Takao Yamazaki, head of business at ZOZOTOWN. “We hope to use this opportunity to showcase Japanese brands and the appeal of ZOZOTOWN to Korean consumers.”

Musinsa, meanwhile, is looking beyond promoting K-fashion in Japan to tap new domestic demand for Japanese fashion.

“Our goal is to help Korean and international brands find new growth opportunities in each other’s markets and, ultimately, broaden the foundations of the fashion ecosystems in both countries,” said Park Jun-young, head of global business at Musinsa.

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.