LF’s In-house Venture Brand, Dunst, Evolves into an Independent Corporation
- Dunst to operate as new independent corporation, CTDOTS, two years and two months since its launch as in-house venture brand
- LF’s first spin-off to support autonomous, speedy decision-making process and increase efficiency
- Promotion of innovative brand management through internal and external discovery and development of venture brands
LF, the lifestyle culture company, announced on the 20th, that its street casual brand Dunst, which was first incubated as an in-house venture, is to be spun-off as an independent corporation.
LF parted with its Dunst division in the middle of this month to create a new independent corporation called CTDOTS. Prior to this development, Dunst had emerged as a dark horse in the street casual market within two years and two months of its birth from an LF in-house venture development program in February 2019, and was launched as a new subsidiary. Against the backdrop of a rapidly changing environment, LF now plans to improve corporate efficiency by establishing a governance system that allows for autonomous, expert decision-making in its business divisions, and inspiring a flexible venture spirit within CTDOTS.
Dunst is the first known case of a startup to be divided to create another startup spin-off. As LF’s first in-house venture project, Dunst is an extremely responsive, high street casual brand, led by a group of on-trend, Millennial and Gen Z employees who make all the decisions related to planning, production, and sales, and market the brand in innovative ways without bureaucratic restrictions or regulations. By demonstrating the characteristics of venture-capital organizations such as speedy operations and daring strategies, the brand has been able to create a series of popular items to successfully generate a surplus in a short period of time and to set the wheels in motion for an independent launch.
CTDOTS, the new spin-off corporation, is an abbreviation of “Connect the Dots” meaning “to draw a conclusion from simple facts”. This name reflects its intention to comprehend customer value by combining key elements from heterogenous 21st century fashion trends. The future goal of CTDOTS is to launch menswear and womenswear brands that are differentiated from Dunst, a unisex brand, and to aggressively expand its distribution networks on global online platforms to become a leading K-fashion household brand.
Oh Kyu-sik, LF’S CEO, commented, “The evolution of Dunst into an independent corporation is important, as it proves that startups can use their available resources and know-how to become the actual owners of their ventures, and it confirms the company’s promise that any employee who is skilled and enthusiastic enough can become a CEO.” He continued, “LF is proud of its organizational culture that is not afraid to take risks and fail. We will therefore support and develop the innovative ideas of our employees to create a second, and even a third Dunst.”
Photo Description: Dunst’s BI / Dunst’s 2021 S/S photoshoot