The Launch of K-beauty! – Nature Republic UK
© Beige Chuu, from BBC
In Autumn 2019, Korean beauty brand ‘Nature Republic’ opened its first shop in Leicester Square, London. Together with the world-wide rise in popularity of K-pop, K-beauty and K-food has seen a steady increase in interest and fans across the UK. The BBC News article (Oct 2018) titled <K-beauty: The rise of Korean make-up in the West> states that ‘it’s not just Korean entertainment – in the last 18 months, there has also been a rise in Korean beauty trends coming over to the West. In 2017, South Korea’s beauty industry was estimated to be worth just over $13bn (£10bn), according to retail researchers Mintel.’ (link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-45820671) As supported by this article, it looks like the Korean makeup and beauty industry is securing a firm position in the UK beauty market.
Until now in the UK, Korean beauty products of varying brands have been making its debut via online select shops by small businesses, or in few fashion and accessories stores. However, since receiving the official EU Regulation Approved regarding the product ingredients, Nature Republic is the first Korean Beauty brand to be launched in the UK.
STORY iN DESIGN has been working with Maguro Group since the initiation of the official UK launch of Nature Republic. This project involved not only the designing of the online shop, but also the project management of the interior design of the shop.
© STORY iN DESIGN
Shopify was used as the bases for creating and designing of the online shop. The previous experience of using Magento proved that Shopify was the better option for this project. We have worked with the theme of ‘simple and bold’ as requested by Nature Republic Korea.
© Nature Republic UK
Whilst the project managing role didn’t involve much of the actual design of the shop itself because the Nature Republic Headquarters in Korea has provided with design specifications according to their brand image, STORY iN DESIGN was needed to bridge the communication and the sourcing of the materials between the Korean HQ and the clients in the UK.
We are pleased and proud to have been able to take part in the launch of the first Korean beauty brand and the Mono brand store - Nature Republic UK.
We are continuing our partnership with Nature Republic UK by designing online advertising banners and shop window display images/motion graphics for various events and promotions.
