Korea’s The Nature Holdings taking National Geographic fashion brand to China

[Provided by The Nature Holdings]

National Geographic Apparel, fashion brand of South Korea’s The Nature Holdings, is tapping other Asian markets upon huge popularity among teenagers and young consumers in Korea and Hong Kong.

According to the fashion industry on Tuesday, The Nature Holdings has completed procedures to establish a joint-venture entity in China with a plan to open a shop in the first half of next year.

It will hold a 51-percent stake in the joint venture. Its partner Bestseller, a global fashion firm headquartered in Danmark, holds the fifth-largest distribution network in China, with 7,000 offline shops nationwide.

The Nature Holdings already debuted its apparel line in Tmall, China’s e-commerce platform for brand-name goods.

“We plan to use China as a foothold to be accepted in the global market,” said an official from the firm.

It will add stores in China and other Asian countries like Taiwan and Japan next year.

Specifically, it hopes to open two shops in the first half and four in the second in Taiwan. Afterwards it will move onto Malaysia and Singapore.

Its confidence comes after sales from five shops in Hong Kong jumped 160 percent on year as of October this year.

It benchmarks earlier successful path of F&F.

F&F launched its young apparel brand MLB based on brand licensing with the U.S. Major League Baseball in 1997. Backed by its success in the domestic market, it advanced into China in 2019.

The Nature Holdings’ shares rose 0.54 percent to 28,100 won ($20.43) in the morning session of Wednesday.

By Shin Hye-lim and Jenny Lee