"Following Mom Around Dongdaemun Market, I Was Able to Create My Own Trend"

Cafe24-MZ (Millennial Generation) Global Brand 'Hittek'

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Hye-seon] The mother had a unique hobby. She was an ordinary housewife but roamed the Dongdaemun wholesale market like a clothing entrepreneur. The child who once held her mother's hand and wandered through Dongdaemun, deeply immersed in clothes, has now turned her mother's hobby into a respectable business. The founding background of the clothing shopping mall 'HITTAEK' started more than a decade ago with the keywords 'mother' and 'Dongdaemun.' The child who loved clothes more than books is now CEO Kim Taek-young (27). Although he became a respectable boss after founding the company in 2018, the 'clothing market' is still his playground.

Instead of following a famous designer course, CEO Kim thoroughly learned through hands-on experience in the field. He worked at a large clothing brand store during the day and observed the Dongdaemun wholesale market at night. He frequently created his own coordinates and posted them on social networking services (SNS) to gather public feedback. This cultivated expertise is HITTAEK's greatest asset. Kim said, "Instead of worrying about winding career paths, I thought the order to start my own brand came from myself," adding, "Cafe24's well-established online shopping mall infrastructure also empowered me to take on the challenge easily."

When asked about the identity and direction of the shopping mall, he had a lot to say. HITTAEK targets trend-sensitive men and women in their teens and twenties, commonly called the 'MZ generation' (Millennials + Generation Z). The brand is not defined by specific styles like 'Amekaji,' 'Street,' or 'Minimal.' If anything, it is 'Kim Taek-young style.' Kim said, "If I like it, I create coordinate cuts without being tied to any particular style or clothing category," adding, "Paradoxically, the very diversity itself has become HITTAEK's brand identity."

The core of the 'HITTAEK style' that customers point out is color. Kim himself explains that the secret to his coordination lies in color matching. Before founding the company, he searched everywhere clothes gathered?from department stores to Dongdaemun?without discrimination, focusing first on color. His philosophy is that if this sense dulls, the foundation of coordination collapses. The increase in customer loyalty was a natural progression.

The result of insisting on his own style exceeded expectations. After tirelessly searching wherever clothes were found, HITTAEK has continued its vertical growth. Recently, Kim opened a two-story offline store in Suwon. His Instagram followers have surpassed 60,000. Starting alone with just 100,000 won buying clothes for the first time at Dongdaemun, Kim became a boss paying employees' salaries within two years. The shopping mall built on the global e-commerce platform Cafe24 is the forefront of branding. The YouTube channel 'HITTAEK TV,' which Kim started last year, is also gaining popularity. While sharing various coordination tips with customers, he does not hesitate to share stories with aspiring entrepreneurs. His anecdotes from experiences in Dongdaemun and other places are popular content. He even receives consultation requests seeking business advice.

When asked to give a word to prospective entrepreneurs, Kim emphasized once again that 'footwork' is the most important.

Kim said, "If others succeed in business but you don't, it's important to quickly accept that you are behind the trend," adding, "You must go out to the streets, enter various brand stores, ask endless questions, and bring in others' knowledge to build a solid operational cycle."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.