Rachy Kang
Country Manager at Instituto Marangoni
Global expansion is about more than entering a new market — it’s about making your brand understood. Drawing on her experience across Milan’s luxury fashion scene and Seoul’s fast-moving industry, Rachy Kang shares five principles for building fashion brands that combine heritage, innovation, and cultural relevance.
By Rachy Kang | In collaboration with DORÉE
A brand carries meaning, and meaning does not travel on its own. That is why so many fashion brands struggle abroad.
Having studied fashion in Milan and worked in both European luxury and the Korean fashion market, I’ve seen two different ways of building fashion. Milan teaches heritage. Seoul teaches change. Going global takes both, because it isn’t about being everywhere. It’s about being understood.
1. Know who you are before you go global
Italian fashion is rooted in craftsmanship, history, and storytelling, and every detail serves one larger vision. Luxury is not about being expensive. It is about being meaningful enough to endure. Before crossing a border, be able to say what your brand stands for in one sentence.
2. Keep moving, or fall behind
Seoul is fast, experimental, and always evolving. Korean designers are redefining luxury through contemporary aesthetics, cultural influences, and digital storytelling, and their ideas become globally relevant quickly. European heritage and Korean speed are strengths a brand needs together.
3. Be understood, not just present
A concept that works in Milan may be read differently in Seoul. Expectations, cultural references, and communication styles all shape how fashion is experienced. Entering a market is not enough. You have to learn how to speak to the people in it.
4. Learn the business behind the design
The strongest designers don’t just follow trends. They understand why trends emerge, which means knowing branding, business, culture, and consumer behavior as well as craft.
5. Build bridges, not borders
European craftsmanship and Korean innovation are not opposing approaches. They are different strengths that inspire each other, and the next chapter of fashion will be built on those connections.
The takeaway: Heritage gives a brand something to say. Innovation keeps it moving. Cultural understanding makes sure someone is listening.
From DORÉE: taking your brand across borders?
DORÉE builds brands that travel between Asia and the West, with teams in Paris, Seoul, Bali, and Los Angeles. If you want your fashion brand to be noticed far beyond your home market, schedule a call with DORÉE and tell us where you want to go
About the author
Rachy Kang is the Director of Marangoni Korea A&O Office, a fashion industry professional, and an alumna of Istituto Marangoni Milano, where she completed her Master’s in Womenswear. With experience spanning European luxury fashion and the Korean fashion industry, she focuses on international education and building connections between the Korean and European fashion communities.
