LF

- Launched in Italy in 2002 with handmade t-shirts... Hallmarks include use of finest Italian fabrics, vibrant colors, and handmade details

- LF aggressively diversifies global fashion portfolio to meet increasingly sophisticated tastes of consumers as domestic fashion industry reaches maturity

LF, the lifestyle culture company, has secured the South Korean distribution rights of Italian luxury brand, Forte Forte, in a move to expand its global fashion business. The company also recently acquired the distribution rights to PATOU.

Domestic operations will officially commence from the first half of next year pursuant to the import and sales contract that was completed with the Forte Forte headquarters. Beginning with the launch of the 2024 SS collection, Forte Forte will be introduced to South Korean consumers through retail outlets concentrated in department stores in the major metropolitan areas. Forte Forte aims to target foreign brand enthusiasts who, drawing from their wealth of knowledge and experience of imported fashion, value personal style and prefer brand authenticity, rather than pursuing popular trends.

Forte Forte’s collections are refined and elegant, while strongly exuding a romantic, artistic mood, and bear the hallmarks of sophistication, finest Italian fabrics, handmade details, and vibrant colors. The brand is distinctively proud of its use of high-end textiles such as poplin cotton, which emits an air of opulence, soft cotton voile, and subtly lustrous habotai silk.

Forte Forte began in 2002 as a collection of handmade t-shirts created by siblings, Giada Forte and Paolo Forte, from Veneto, a region in Italy known for craftsmanship. The core philosophy of the brand is to uphold a pride in craftsmanship by retaining the value and unique characteristics of handmade products. Although Giada was in charge of design and Paolo in charge of business strategy, it was the joining of Robert Vattilana as art director that completed the union, as well as the brand’s identity over the years.

Currently, Forte Forte operates nine flagship stores around the world, including Milan, Paris, London, Tokyo, Madrid, Rome and Los Angeles, and has collaborated with many traditional Italian brands such as the hat brand, Borsalino, and the niche perfume brand, Acqua di Parma.

Although the brand is relatively unknown in South Korea, LF foresaw the growth potential of Forte Forte ten years ago and introduced some of its collections to domestic customers through its premium select shop, RAUM. Today, it is a different story. The fashion preferences of domestic consumers are sophisticated to the point where the sales of Forte Forte in RAUM have now grown tenfold, resulting in LF’s confidence in the brand’s potential value and final decision to distribute Forte Forte in South Korea.

Kim Sang-kyun, the CEO of LF’s fashion business, commented, “While the South Korean fashion market is reaching maturity, overseas fashion is still growing. We have therefore partnered with the luxury brand, Forte Forte, which not only attracts overseas attention, but calls Italy, a global fashion hub, its home. As it is important to keep up with the rapidly changing market for foreign brand imports, LF will continue to proactively strengthen its portfolio of foreign new luxury brands.”

Photo Description: Forte Forte’s 2023 F/W global photoshoot / Forte Forte’s showroom in Milan