South Korean fashion brand Matin Kim, a rising favorite among young consumers, is accelerating its global expansion after a strong performance in Asia during the first half of the year. Riding the wave of K-fashion’s popularity, the brand now has its sights set on the United States and Europe.

According to the brand’s operator Hago Haus on Sunday, Matin Kim is currently running nine overseas stores, with its global push beginning in earnest with the opening of a store in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong in October 2024. Since then, it has expanded to Macau, Taiwan, and Shibuya in Japan.

Matin Kim is at the forefront of the K-fashion boom, driven by the growing influence of Korean pop culture across Asia.

Its Causeway Bay location has become the top-performing store globally, averaging 830 million won ($611,000) in monthly sales. It has also emerged as the most popular Korean brand in the area, drawing steady foot traffic and acclaim.

In Taiwan, the store located in the trendy Vieshow Mall opened in May and recorded 230 million won in sales within just two weeks. Local department stores are now lining up to bring in the brand. In Macau, both the Venetian store, frequented by international tourists, and the accessory-focused Londoner shop have seen consistent growth, with the latter enjoying a 33 percent increase in average monthly sales.

Top-selling items in Hong Kong and Taiwan include the brand’s signature logo-coated jackets. Summer releases like denim hobo and square bags have also gained strong traction.

In Japan, where Matin Kim partnered with Musinsa Global, the brand has been embraced as a quintessential “Y2Kppoi” (Y2K-style) label.

The flagship store in Shibuya, which opened in April, brought in 430 million won in its first week and over 600 million won in two weeks. On its opening day alone, sales reached 80 million won—double the target—and weekly sales goals were met within two days, demonstrating the brand’s popularity among local shoppers.

As a result, the share of overseas sales surged to 15 percent of total revenue in the first half of the year, up from just 6 percent in all of last year. Matin Kim’s total annual revenue in 2024 stood at around 150 billion won.

Even in markets where the brand has no physical presence yet, such as the U.S. and Europe, awareness is on the rise. From March to June, Matin Kim launched a global influencer campaign targeting the U.S., United Kingdom, Poland, and Mexico. Collaborating with over 400 creators across Instagram and TikTok, the campaign generated more than 20 million cumulative views and 800,000 likes by the end of June.

Following the campaign, Google searches for the brand surged significantly. Search volume increased by 2,455 percent in Mexico and 809 percent in Poland, indicating high interest in those regions.

Looking ahead, Matin Kim plans to further strengthen its presence in Asia by opening additional stores in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Japan later this year. It is also exploring opportunities to enter the Americas and Europe based on the promising response to its campaign.

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