Gentle Monster (Korean: 젠틀몬스터, stylized in all caps) is a South Korean brand of luxury sunglasses and optical glasses founded by Hankook Kim in Seoul in 2011.[1][2][3]
Gentle Monster's brand name consists of two parts: gentle supposedly resembles the wearable, delicate, and humble side contrasting with monster reflecting the attitude and individuality of the brand.[4]
Gentle Monster employs 6 people to design its eyewear products and 60 people to design the store visuals.[7] Its products are exhibited like museum pieces in "an immersive and experiential offline shopping experience."[7]
For example, in May through August 2016 its New York City flagship store was turned into an underwater experience creates with aquarium designer Justin Muir and glass sculptor Ivan Lee Mora, influenced by the French film Le Grand Bleu.[8]
In February 2021, Gentle Monster opened a new space, Haus Dosan, to present the brand's direction in retail. Haus Dosan also carries cosmetics brand Tamburins and has on-site dessert cafe Nudake.[9]
Each store's goal is to mimic a contemporary gallery containing life-sized objects and sculptures. For example, one of Gentle Monster's London stores has a Kung Fu theme with robots performing martial arts movements. Gentle Monster's first store in Korea features a lifesize ship.[6][10]
History
Serial entrepreneur Jae Wook Oh invested about $100,000 in 2012 and Gentle Monster began producing frames in Daegu, which had been a manufacturing hub for Luxottica, and China, since acetate frames are illegal to produce in South Korea.[11] The brand's designs favor oversize frames much larger than Western brands' because its Asian clientele prefer to have frames that create an image of a smaller face.[11][12]
In 2013 and 2014, Korean actress Jun Ji-hyun wore Gentle Monster lenses on My Love From the Star, and this greatly broadened the brand's exposure to a mainstream audience.[11]
On average, a pair of sunglasses or glasses range from $200-$300 depending on frames, lenses, and prescription. However, prices fluctuate and may be as high as $500.[15]
Marketing
Tilda Swinton collaborated with Gentle Monster in February 2017 in designing three sunglasses and appeared in an ad campaign video.[16] The brand shows at New York Fashion Week.[17]
Items are all limited edition, once an item sells out, the next return is not promised. Gentle Monster is the first luxury eyewear brand to cater to the Asian market.[6][18][19][4]
Production and services
Gentle Monster attained a factory with Italian manufacturers who previously worked for famous brands such as Ray-Ban early during its journey in Korea to produce high-quality eyewear. Most, if not all, of Gentle Monster's eyewear is produced with chrome, titanium, and premium metals to produce glasses and sunglasses. The brand offers repair and maintenance with purchases, as well as customization to adjust to an individual's face.[4]
In 2020, the brand collaborated with singer Jennie Kim of Blackpink to release the Jentle Home collection,[22] and Chinese-Canadian singer and rapper Kris Wu for the release of the Gentle Wu collection.[23]
In 2022, the brand released a second collection with Kim, called the Jentle Garden collection. A mobile game was developed in promotion of the collaboration, while pop-up stores were opened in five cities: Seoul, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Shanghai.[24]
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