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Four Major Fashion Companies, One Good Quarter
Samsung C&T’s fashion division, Handsome (the fashion affiliate of Hyundai Department Store Group), Kolon Industries’ fashion division, and Shinsegae International all posted higher revenue and operating profit in the second quarter of 2026. What stands out is that these major players grew in lockstep during a quarter traditionally considered the industry’s off-season, when lower-priced items outsell winter clothing. Operating profit at Samsung C&T’s fashion division rose 63.6% year over year, and at Handsome it rose 525.0%.
Kolon Industries’ fashion division more than doubled its operating profit, and Shinsegae International swung back into the black. The results are being read less as the success of any single hit brand than as the combined effect of in-house and imported brand sales, more efficient distribution, and a broader recovery in domestic consumption. That said, each company’s mix of profit-driving brands and growth drivers looked different.
Profitability, Not Just Revenue, Was the Standout
Samsung C&T’s fashion division posted second-quarter revenue of 593 billion won and operating profit of 54 billion won, up 16.3% and 63.6% year over year, respectively. Sales grew evenly across in-house brands like Beanpole and 8 Seconds and imported labels like Lemaire, Ami, and Maison Kitsuné. Because operating profit grew faster than revenue, both the top line and profitability improved at once.
Handsome posted revenue of 363.2 billion won and operating profit of 4.6 billion won, up 7.4% and 525.0%. Kolon Industries’ fashion division brought in revenue of 310.8 billion won and operating profit of 15.8 billion won, up 4.9% and 110.7%. A sales strategy centered on new products, more diversified distribution channels, and leaner internal operations underpinned the profitability gains at both companies.
Shinsegae International reported revenue of 291.6 billion won and operating profit of 7 billion won, turning the company profitable again. Stripping out subsidiaries, its core business alone brought in 242.8 billion won in revenue, up 27.6%, with operating profit flipping from a 4.1 billion won loss a year earlier to a 10.5 billion won profit. Revenue from its imported fashion division rose 31.8%, with growth coming from both newly introduced brands and its existing high-end labels.
Turning a Domestic Rebound Into a Launchpad Overseas
On the sales-channel side, department stores led the recovery. Fashion revenue at Shinsegae Department Store rose 10% in the second quarter, and at Hyundai Department Store, 13%. A rebound in domestic clothing consumption, combined with a weak won pushing some overseas shopping demand back home, propped up the major companies’ results. But because the fashion industry is so sensitive to weather, the broader economy, and consumer sentiment, a single strong quarter isn’t enough to call this a long-term recovery.
That’s exactly why these companies are moving faster on overseas expansion now that their domestic numbers have improved. Samsung C&T’s fashion division has followed up its Chengdu store for designer label Juun.J with a Beijing location and is preparing further openings in China. Handsome is expanding its European distribution network around a System flagship store in Paris and a System Homme store inside Galeries Lafayette. Shinsegae International’s Studio Tomboy and VOV brands have opened standalone stores in Singapore, testing the Southeast Asian market.
Menswear label MAN ON THE BOON has signed wholesale deals with high-end multi-brand retailers including Just One Eye in Los Angeles and Andreas Murkudis in Berlin, with sales at those stores set to roll out starting with the fall/winter 2026 season. Alongside opening stores directly, Korean companies are also using wholesale deals with local multi-brand retailers to test the market’s response — a second track running alongside direct expansion.
The next test for these results is whether the profit gained at home translates into sustainable revenue abroad. Selling imported brands well domestically and getting Korean-made brands to take hold in overseas distribution networks are two different challenges. Early store openings and wholesale deals are only a starting point for market entry — repeat purchases from local consumers and an expanding distribution footprint would have to follow before this counts as long-term growth. K-fashion’s big four turned in a second quarter that reads less as a finished recovery than as the resources to go test their brands’ competitiveness in China, Europe, Southeast Asia, and the United States.
Source: Bizwatch, Aug. 12, 2026; Yonhap News Agency, Aug. 3, 2026; Korea Textile News, March 27, 2026; Samsung C&T Fashion Division materials, Aug. 10, 2026.
