OSOI's first bespoke line was designed for Japan, not Korea

Photo: United Arrows / OSOI

OSOI, the Seoul bag label, began selling its first Japan-only premium line on Wednesday, a bag in Italian leather distributed through United Arrows, which operates the brand in the Japanese market.

The FORMA retails at ¥162,800, about £800, in black and beige, the company said in a release issued through TABAYA Holdings, United Arrows' parent. It is sold at OSOI Shinjuku, OSOI Shibuya, selected United Arrows stores and both companies' online shops.

OSOI was founded in Seoul in 2016 by Hee Jin Kang, who is chief executive and creative director. The brand opened OSOI Shinjuku and OSOI Shibuya in September, its first directly operated stores outside Korea.

The Seoul label opened two Tokyo shops last month. Its first country-specific collection costs ¥162,800 and Korean customers cannot buy it.

A limited line designed for one country is not unusual in itself. What is unusual is which country, and who is selling it.

United Arrows is one of the buyers the Seoul Metropolitan Government invites to Seoul Fashion Week's trade show each season, alongside Printemps, Samaritaine, SSENSE, Club21 and HBX. The city reported $7.57m in order consultations from that trade show in September.

Wholesale orders and an operating relationship are different things. A buyer writes a seasonal order and can decline the next one. A retailer running a brand's stores and designing product for its own market has taken a position.

The product itself is built for the Japanese customer it is aimed at. The FORMA holds a laptop and A4 documents, which the company said makes it workable from business settings through to daily use, and its front belt adjusts to change the bag's shape.

The campaign carries the actor and model Emi Takei. The leather is Italian and the price sits near the bottom of the European luxury range, which suggests the ambition is the accessible-luxury category.

What stands up is the direction of travel. Korean labels on the Seoul runway this season were being sold to buyers through a department store's online mall and a trade show that recorded almost no growth in order consultations, up 0.4% on the previous season. OSOI skipped that route and ended up with two Tokyo shops and a Japanese retail partner designing product with it.

The FORMA is not available in the UK. It is a Japan-limited model sold through Japanese channels, and no British stockist is listed by either company.

The brand's name comes from the Japanese word 遅い, osoi, meaning slow. The company has said it chose it to signal that it wanted to keep its own pace and make things properly, even if that took longer.

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