“BTS and NewJeans used it” SJ Group 'doubles' revenue in three years after listing on KOSDAQ...the secret behind?

[KOREA FINANCIAL TIMES, Son Wontae]

It was SJ Group CEO Lee Joo-young who brought KANGOL to Korea. KANGOL only landed in Korea in 2008, 70 years after the brand's founding.

KANGOL is a fashion brand that was born in England in 1938. At the time, it mainly produced hats for British workers, golfers, and soldiers. Later, with the outbreak of World War II, the brand supplied berets to British soldiers. In the 1948 London Olympics, British athletes wore KANGOL berets and the brand was recognized.

KANGOL became a British national brand in the 1960s when the Beatles wore berets to concerts. In 1983, the brand's customer base expanded from men to women when Princess Diana of England became a frequent wearer of KANGOL hats.

Lee, the founder of SJ Group, originally worked as a reviewer for startup investment firms. He became involved in the fashion industry in 2007 when he secured the domestic business rights for Australian women's hat brand Helen Kaminski. He said he developed an eye for the future value of a company and brand discovery from a financier's perspective. “Finance is a market for money, and fashion is a market for goods,” he says.

Before importing KANGOL, Lee focused on the brand's storytelling, asking himself two questions: “Does the brand have its own power?” and “Is the brand scalable? Lee was introduced to KANGOL by Helen Kaminsky partners in Australia. He saw the story of how KANGOL grew to become a national brand in the UK and decided to bring it to Korea. Lee became the exclusive importer of KANGOL hats and signed a master license agreement. In 2016, he signed a 20-year long-term contract with KANGOL.

SJ Group was established in 2008 with the launch of KANGOL in Korea. At the same time, SJ Group also won the rights to all KANGOL categories, including bags and apparel. In the case of hats, the US partner has global business rights. Except for hats, SJ Group is the only Korean company to have the apparel business rights for KANGOL bags and apparel. SJ Group also officially introduced the world's first KANGOL Kids line in 2018. SJ Group has more than 180 KANGOL stores in Korea, including department stores, shopping malls, and online stores.

SJ Group listed on the KOSDAQ in 2019 due to its growing business scale. The company's sales have been growing from KRW 107.1 billion in 2020 to KRW 149.7 billion in 2021, KRW 19.9 billion in 2022, and KRW 203.7 billion in 2023. The company has doubled its revenue in three years since listing. 70% of SJ Group's revenue comes from KANGOL. In this case, KANGOL's sales were estimated to be around 140 billion won last year.

In Korea, KANGOL is particularly famous for its bag line. The bag line accounts for about 60% of KANGOL's total sales. The remaining 20% comes from apparel and 10% from hats.

KANGOL consumers are split evenly across age groups, with 22% in their teens, 35% in their 20s, 20% in their 30s, and 23% in their 40s and older. Celebrities such as BTS members Jungkook and J-Hope, and Newjeans member Haerin have also been spotted wearing the product. This year, KANGOL also launched a rebranding campaign and collaborated with global motorcycle brands such as BMW, Triumph, and Ducati.

“KANGOL in Korea has the highest sales in the world because it has expanded from a single item, hats, to bags, apparel, kids, and more,” said SJ Group. ”KANGOL branches around the world are also benchmarking KANGOL in Korea, and we are preparing to expand overseas to China in the second half of the year.”

Son Wontae (tellme@fntimes.com)