University-branded clothing trend more about image than school aspirations

Yale clothing store in Lotte Department Store in Songpa District, southern Seoul. [CHO YONG-JUN]

 
Anyone walking around Seoul’s university districts will quickly notice students wearing hoodies and puffer jackets emblazoned with school names. But these university-branded outfits aren’t confined to local institutions like Seoul National University or Yonsei — they’re increasingly seen across the city, often featuring prestigious overseas universities like Harvard and Yale.
 
Such American university-branded clothes are not just being shown off by current students or alumni of the college, but also by people in their 20s who want to look smart, as well as by students who want to study in such institutions in the future. 
 
As part of this trend, different Korean fashion firms have been acquiring licenses from renowned U.S. universities to start new clothing brands with university names and logos. Yale, UCLA, Harvard, UC Berkley and Cornell are all famous schools that have ended up on clothing brands. Five years after the first university-licensed clothing brands hit the market, Yale and UCLA are still frequently seen in stores and online malls in the country. 
 
Licensing clothing for a popular overseas brand — from a broadcasting channel to jet fighter maker — is more than a common phenomenon in Korea: Ever since the nature documentary TV channel and publication National Geographic and the Discovery Channel turned into outdoor apparel brands in the early 2010s, all kinds of different Western brands, particularly from U.S.-based firms, have had a second life in Korea. Mlb puffer jackets, Jeep and Kodak T-shirts and even pants featuring the long-defunct Pan Am airlines are all easy to spot on the streets of Seoul. 
 

A promotional image for a UCLA-branded hoodie [SCREEN CAPTURE]

 
Such licensed apparel deals are an attractive option for small firms that wish to kick-start their own clothing brands but don’t want to be involved in the hassle of launching a brand-new name, which often comes with years of heavy investment in marketing and advertising to build up brand recognition. 
 
The Yale clothing brand, first launched by Korean fashion company Words Corporation in the fall and winter seasons of 2020, was the first domino bringing prestigious university names into fashion. The brand experienced strong popularity upon its release, hitting 2 billion won ($1.3 million) in revenue in its first season, and reaching 10 billion won in its first year after launch. Yale also opened shops in Lotte Department Stores, Shinsegae Department Store outlets and AK department stores, with fashion platform Musinsa subsequently acquiring a 55 percent share of the firm in late 2022. Similarly, Plantunus, a subsidiary of fashion firm Dongkwang International, signed an exclusive deal with the University of California, Los Angeles, to launch a UCLA-licensed clothing brand.
 
But even if licensed brand clothing has become a common sight in Korea, university-licensed clothing brands featuring logos of prestigious colleges mean something different these days. Shirts and hoodies with logos of the University of California and Ivy League universities might be a way for some to represent their dream university, but for many people, they are mainly seeking to create an intelligent image for themselves. 
 
“The recent popularity of U.S. university-branded clothes can be attributed to a means to share one’s intellectual image and how classy one can be,” Professor Kim Ji-hern at Sejong University’s School of Business and Economics said. The professor, however, said that it would be a stretch to interpret it as Korean envy of prestigious institutions or a desire to attend such universities.
 
“More adults have bought into the brand and it shows that they wanted to consume the smart and cerebral image that they convey, instead of wearing them because they want to be a part of the institution.” 
 
Noh Ji-yun, CEO of Words Corporation, which launched the Yale brand, clarified that the company’s goal was not to have customers feel like they are Yale University students. 
 
“Our original target customers were those who referenced Ivy League fashion and its vintage mood in their daily outfits,” Words CEO told the Korea JoongAng Daily. “We wanted Yale, the clothing brand, to be more than just a university.” 
 

A promotional image for a Harvard-branded hoodie [SCREEN CAPTURE]

 
Not all university-licensed brands have been as successful as Yale and UCLA. Soon after Yale’s success, Harvard, University of California, Berkeley and Cornell all got their own clothing brands in Korea, but they are already difficult to find offline or even on online stores like Musinsa and the like. 
 
The sudden fall of some of the university-licensed brands was affected by a change in consumer trends in Korea, according to Professor Kim. As more Korean consumers are relying less on brand logos, they are going for a trend of “quiet luxury,” where they don’t have to loudly show famous names. Licensed brands that adapted to the trend by releasing more subtle versions of their clothes survived, while others didn’t. 
 
Aligning with this trend, Yale and UCLA have both released clothes with smaller logos of their respective universities, or even clothes without any logos on them. 
 
“Yale, to many, is still considered a university brand, and we are currently trying to adjust our brand image,” Words CEO Noh added. “Yale is more than just a university; it signifies intellect and Ivy League fashion.”

Yale clothing store in Lotte Department Store in Songpa District, southern Seoul. [CHO YONG-JUN]

 
The evidence is clear in stores.
 
On Friday, a Lotte Department Store in Songpa District, southern Seoul, wasn’t just filled with hoodies and T-shirts with “Yale” in large capital letters, but had more of the subtle Yale branding — from the university name in lowercase letters, a small Yale logo in the corner or even sweatshirts that only had the letter “Y.” From a distance, it was difficult to realize that some of these items were even Yale University-branded clothing. 
 
“Clothes with big Yale logos, like hoodies and jackets, are more popular among teenagers,” a member of the staff at the Yale store in southern Seoul said. “It seems like people in their twenties or above prefer subtle Yale branding.”
 
 
 

BY CHO YONG-JUN [[email protected]]