Olive Young leads trend at culture festival in Japan

Olive Young leads trend at culture festival in Japan

최초입력 2025.05.14 11:31:07

(Kim Hyo-hae)

South Korea’s Olive Young solidified its status as a global K-beauty leader by drawing 50,000 visitors to its booth at KCON JAPAN 2025, the world’s largest K-pop and Korean culture festival, held from May 9 to 11 at Makuhari Messe in Japan. With more than 110,000 fans attending the three-day event, Olive Young’s presence highlighted the surging influence of K-beauty among young Japanese consumers.
Among the visitors was Mizuki Ota, 20, a fan of K-pop group Zerobaseone, who traveled two hours from Yokohama with her mother to explore the event. She visited the Olive Young booth specifically to experience the products from Colorgram, a brand modeled by Zerobaseone.
“K-beauty is amazing. I’ve always wanted to try Colorgram,” she said.
Her mother, Yuriko Ota, 57, added, “I knew Korean skincare was good, but I didn’t realize there were so many different brands.”
Carrying Olive Young-branded shopping bags filled with samples, the pair exemplified a broader trend among the crowd—young women in their teens and twenties donning K-fashion and proudly showing off their purchases. Many attendees wore items from brands popular among Korea’s MZ generation, including Matin Kim, Marithe Francois Girbaud, and Emis.
With 270 booths at the venue, the event offered immersive experiences across K-pop, K-drama, K-food, and K-beauty. Olive Young stood out with the largest booth—spanning 3,600 square feet—designed as a beauty school under the theme “A Place of Joy and Beauty Inspiration.” The booth showcased over 100 products from 40 brands sold through Olive Young’s platform.
A key feature was the K-Super Rookie with Young zone, a joint program by Olive Young and South Korea’s Ministry of SMEs and Startups that supports emerging beauty brands with high export potential. Twenty pilot program participants—including Modubom, Efilow, Torhop, 12 GRABS, and Heveblue—presented their signature products at the event.
The space mimicked a school store, allowing visitors to explore products and purchase them through Olive Young’s Global Mall.
“I hadn’t heard of these brands before, but because Olive Young is promoting them, I’m interested,” said 19-year-old Rara Suzuki. “Everyone knows Olive Young. It’s a must-visit when going to Korea.”
Miku Marukawa, 21, remarked, “The diversity of K-beauty brands is its biggest appeal. It really feels like the leading edge of trends.”
To help the brands gain global experience, Olive Young brought 14 of the pilot companies to the event, covering their airfare and lodging so they could directly observe customer reactions in Japan.
The company also hosted its first K-beauty Global Meetup on May 9, featuring talks from a global research firm on Japanese consumer trends, a Japanese advertising agency on local marketing strategies, and CJ ENM on leveraging K-culture in global marketing.
Notably, Choi Chul-ho, vice president of VT Cosmetics—a brand already thriving in the Japanese market—shared firsthand insights with participating brands.
Cha Jae-hyung, CEO of Efilow, said the opportunity was invaluable. “As a lesser-known brand, it’s hard to connect with customers. Being able to present our products directly to Japanese consumers is incredibly meaningful,” he said. “Since joining Olive Young, we’ve found more overseas opportunities. We’ve already secured distribution deals in Europe and Vietnam.”
An Olive Young official said, “We’re using KCON as a strategic gateway for small Korean beauty brands to meet global consumers and gain field experience. We will continue to foster a healthy K-beauty ecosystem by bridging local brands with global demand.”
With the pilot phase of the K-Super Rookie with Young program ending this month, Olive Young plans to expand the program into a full-scale initiative starting in July. This year, 25 promising small K-beauty brands will be selected for participation, with support including KCON exhibition space, marketing consulting, and access to Olive Young’s global infrastructure.
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Olive Young leads trend at culture festival in Japan

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