Son Youngseop, CEO of Vivian, "Will Draw the Future of Vivian's New Growth"

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] Son Youngseop, CEO of Vivian, stated on the 23rd, marking his first anniversary in office, "The past year will shape the coming year and further draw the future of Vivian’s new growth."

In his commemorative speech, CEO Son said, "Despite the global economic crisis caused by COVID-19, we succeeded in turning a profit," and added, "I would first like to thank all the executives and employees who worked passionately alongside us."

Since his appointment last year, CEO Son prioritized ‘organizational reform’ as the top task. He initiated the establishment of new business divisions for business diversification and reorganized the sales organization to expand distribution channels. This was CEO Son’s decisive move to secure competitiveness under the belief that the answer lies with the customers, even amid the COVID-19 crisis.

He said, "Personally, the past year felt like ten years to me," and added, "Taking office as the head of Vivian during a time when the global economic clock stopped due to COVID-19, I experienced a more hectic year than any other."

He continued, "Our Vivian, with a 64-year tradition, took 2020 as the first year of a new leap forward and ran vigorously," adding, "To turn the COVID-19 crisis into an opportunity, we reorganized the organization and attempted new challenges. We diversified distribution channels from the traditional offline focus to online to increase accessibility to consumers in line with social changes."

CEO Son is evaluated to have achieved both internal stability and performance through successful organizational reform. They increased customer touchpoints through various distribution channels such as department stores, online, home shopping, and convenience stores, which was reflected in sales.

In fact, the sales of the renewed in-house mall ‘Vivian Mall’ surged compared to the previous year, and online sales on open markets like 11st and Auction also increased significantly. The home shopping sector rose nearly 35% year-on-year due to strong sales of newly launched brands such as ‘My Fit’ and ‘Barbara 1926’.

Accordingly, Vivian’s operating profit in the first half of this year recorded 1,393.22 million KRW, a 473.8% increase compared to the same period last year, returning to profitability. Net profit for the same period also turned positive, increasing 117.8% to 4,460.13 million KRW, and sales rose 3.7% to 100.11 billion KRW compared to last year.

CEO Son said, "We launched new brands such as ‘Nana Fit’ and ‘Ground V’ by establishing a new business division," adding, "For the first time in Vivian’s history, we developed online-exclusive products targeting the MZ generation and boldly broke the existing Vivian concept by launching life casual wear beyond lingerie."

He added, "This was possible thanks to the firm will and passion of Vivian’s executives and employees who refused to settle for the status quo," and said, "If the past year since my appointment was a year to lay the foundation for change, let us join forces so that the coming year can be a vigorous year to bear fruitful results."

CEO Son joined Namyoung Nylon in 1993 and oversaw product planning and design for the lingerie brand ‘Barbara.’ He later served as head of the Vivian brand before being appointed CEO in July last year.

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