Preview of Next Year's New Semester School Bags... Starting at 1 Million Won for Gold Kids

'Ten Pocket' Trend Where Even Grandparents and Relatives Open Their Wallets
Demand for Luxury Brand Bags Continues

Recently, the fashion industry has been showcasing a variety of school bags in preparation for the 2024 new semester. Although the new semester starts in March, demand for new semester supplies is high as people prepare or gift them in advance, making this period a peak season. In particular, the demand for high-priced luxury brand bags has also increased as the number of 'Gold Kids'?children who are cherished and raised with great care?has grown.

A student wearing a thick coat is going to school at an elementary school in Yongsan-gu, Seoul.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

According to the fashion industry on the 21st, brands such as Beanpole Kids, Fila Kids, and MLB Kids recently unveiled their new semester school bag lineups. Although the new semester is about two months away, promotions were launched early considering the Christmas and year-end sales season.

As a result, searches for 'elementary school student school bags' have also increased. According to Black Kiwi, a big data-based keyword analysis platform, the search volume for 'elementary school student school bags' is expected to reach 112,000 by the end of this month. This represents a 234% increase compared to last month.

Among these, luxury brands are also competing to sell children's school bags. The 'Funmix Nylon Backpack' sold by Thom Browne Kids is priced at 990,000 KRW, and the 'Funmix Nylon Small Backpack' is sold for 920,000 KRW. Additionally, Burberry Kids offers the 'Check Backpack' for 1,120,000 KRW, the 'EKD Crossbody Bag' for 1,090,000 KRW, and the 'Label Messenger Backpack' for 1,180,000 KRW.

[Image source=Thom Browne official website]

The reason various brands are fiercely competing in the school bag market is attributed to the spread of the 'Ten Pocket' trend, where no expense is spared on children.

'Ten Pocket' refers to the phenomenon where parents, grandparents, relatives, and acquaintances do not hesitate to spend money on a single child. In an era of low birth rates, more adults are willing to spend generously on their only child.

This trend has also led to increased sales. According to the Korea Federation of Textile Industries, the infant and children's clothing market size reached 1.2016 trillion KRW last year, growing 31.8% from 912 billion KRW in 2020. During the same period, the overall fashion market grew from 40.3228 trillion KRW to 45.779 trillion KRW, a 13.5% increase, meaning the children's market grew more than twice as fast.

Following this trend, the domestic kids industry is expected to grow even larger. According to the Korea Creative Content Agency, the domestic kids-related market size is projected to expand from around 8 trillion KRW in 2002 to about 50 trillion KRW in 2023. Global consulting firm McKinsey also forecasts that the domestic kids market will grow to 58 trillion KRW, driven by the growth of premium product segments.

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