This Winter's Fashion Trend... Department Stores Cast Their Vote for 'Ppogeuli'

Outdoor 3 Companies Prepare 2.5 Billion Units
Design Up, Price Down Through Pre-Planning

Lotte Department Store - National Geographic Exclusive Product Model Cut

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] Lotte Department Store is exclusively planning and selling three short-length outerwear items in collaboration with outdoor brands National Geographic, K2, and Discovery.

On the 23rd, Lotte Department Store announced that starting from the 25th, it will sell a total of 11,000 pieces worth 2.5 billion KRW in cooperation with the three outdoor brands at all department store branches and outlets. While last year mostly featured basic fleece, this year is expected to offer a wider variety of designs and colors.

The popularity of fleece, also known as ‘ppogeuri’ or ‘hoolis,’ which caused a sell-out frenzy last year and emerged as an outdoor fashion trend, is expected to continue this year. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic limiting travel and outings, demand is anticipated to be higher for reasonably priced short-length outerwear that can be worn comfortably rather than expensive outerwear.

With Discovery, they are introducing the ‘Down Hybrid Hood Fleece Jacket,’ which combines duck down and fleece. This winter season is expected to be warmer than usual, so instead of thick padding, the design features down material on the front and hood parts, and fleece material on the arms and back, allowing for versatile styling.

With K2, they are planning to sell the ‘Reversible Fleece Down’ as a Hangul Day edition. This eco-friendly product uses recycled down filling and applies down and fleece materials on both sides to enable two different style options. From a design perspective, this release follows K2’s Dokdo edition and adds significance as a Hangul edition. The most notable feature is the first-ever application of a logo in Hangul letters spelling ‘K2’ to commemorate Hangul Day on October 9.

Lastly, the ‘Short Down Padding’ released in collaboration with National Geographic is a mainstay bestseller for the brand’s fall/winter (F/W) collection, characterized by its simple design and excellent warmth. A special edition patch engraved with the signature logo will be given as a gift upon purchase.

The exclusively planned products will also be sold simultaneously on Lotte’s online mall, Lotte ON, with online pre-orders available until the 24th, before the offline launch.

Son Sang-hoon, Senior Product Planner at Lotte Department Store’s Product Headquarters, said, “The outdoor industry, hit hard by the decline in consumer sentiment due to COVID-19, is expected to fiercely compete in the peak FW season focusing on ‘short padding and fleece.’ Amid this competition, these collaborative products, planned at more reasonable prices without compromising on design and functionality compared to existing products, will have sufficient collectible value as limited edition items.”

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