Tokyo-based brands operator Itochu Corporation has secured exclusive rights to distribute South Korean beauty brand TonyMoly in Japan.
“We will begin the business deployment in cooperation with Piala Inc and P2C Inc from March,” the company said in a statement.
Piala will undertake marketing and PR activities while P2C will manage the e-commerce and wholesale businesses.
TonyMoly was launched in South Korea in 2006 by Haedong Bae, offering skincare, makeup and hair and body care products. The brand gained popularity among young Asian customers during the first decade of its operation thanks to the booming Hallyu wave (Korean Wave) in the region.
TonyMoly has more than 350 retail stores in 50 countries. The brand’s net sales last year expanded to about US$89.7 million based on retail value.
The company said it will continue to sequentially produce long-selling and best-selling products such as its collaborative product lines with high fashion brands or characters.
“Backed by increasing demand for Korean cosmetics brands, we will expand sales of existing products and excellent products that are not sold in Japan yet, and aim to achieve sales of 10 billion yen ($74.7 million) on a retail basis in three years,” the company said.
Last December, the Japanese firm acquired the master license rights for the US fashion label LLBean in Japan and the wholesale rights for imported products. It also secured the rights to Forever 21 there last year.
