SEOUL, May 27 (AJP) - As beauty creator LeoJ looked out over the sleek new pop-up store in Seoul’s fashionable Seongsu neighborhood, he explained his approach to choosing products that balance accessibility with impact.
“I tend to choose popular picks that are easy for beginners to use but show dramatic and immediate effects,” said LeoJ, who has 1.41 million subscribers on YouTube and served as one of the co-curators for the store. “We’re targeting people who might find beauty intimidating, or who want to get better at it.”
The store — Select Store – THE BEAUTY UNIVERSE — opened on May 22 and marks the largest retail venture to date for Leferi, a Seoul-based beauty retail and creator management company.
The 300-square-meter pop-up, which runs through June 1, brings together the influence of three top beauty creators to showcase a curated selection of skincare and makeup products aimed at demystifying the sprawling K-beauty landscape.
Founded in 2013, Leferi manages around 800 online creators and has trained over 1,500. Now, with this physical retail concept, the company is attempting to translate the digital trust built by influencers into real-world consumer decisions — at a time when the K-beauty market has become both a global force and an increasingly crowded field.
Company chairman Choi In-seok sees creator-driven curation as a necessary filter for an oversaturated industry.
“We have 6,000 brands exporting with 150,000 different products,” he said. “Consumers are increasingly asking, ‘What should I buy?’ It’s very similar to wine — when you enter a wine store, everything is written in French and you ask the staff.”
With beauty creators as de facto sommeliers, Leferi has developed evaluation tools, certification marks, and printed guidebooks to help consumers navigate.
“What we need is for someone to create standards and provide evaluation,” Choi said. “I think creators should do this.”
The company’s ambitions extend well beyond Seoul.
In October, Leferi plans to open a 500-square-meter flagship store in Tokyo’s Omotesando, across from @cosme Tokyo, Japan’s largest beauty retailer.
“We’re targeting the most expensive spot in Japan,” Choi said, noting the space is typically reserved for high-end luxury brands.
Leferi’s international strategy reflects South Korea’s growing dominance in beauty exports, which hit $10 billion last year.
But success abroad, Choi argues, requires more than just volume. “If K-beauty can’t reach France, it will eventually peak and decline or continue competing in the mid-to-low price market,” he said, identifying Europe as the ultimate proving ground for Korean brands’ premium potential.
Leferi operates on a membership-based model, charging participating brands fees that cover store operations, influencer marketing, and promotions. Roughly 30 to 40 percent of visitors to the Seoul store are international customers, with Chinese tourists making up about half of that group.
reporter
Candice Kim
candicekim1121@ajupress.com
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