Han Style sold Golden Goose and Delvaux in Korea — then the luxury platform bubble popped

During the pandemic, Korean consumers who could not travel abroad spent on luxury goods online, and a wave of platforms emerged to capture that demand. L&Han, a premium fashion distribution company that had imported brands including Golden Goose, Delvaux, N21 and MSGM, launched Han Style as its luxury platform.

By 2024 the boom was over. Travel resumed, luxury spending cooled, and the platforms that had grown on venture funding without sustainable unit economics ran out of runway. Catch Fashion abruptly shut down early in the year; Must It drastically scaled back operations. In August, Han Style notified its members that the shopping mall would close on 30 August and the business would terminate entirely in October.

The collapse was not isolated. The TMON and WeMakePrice settlement crisis — a payment-default scandal at Qoo10's Korean social-commerce subsidiaries — sent shockwaves through the platform ecosystem, tightening settlement terms and accelerating vendor withdrawals. Matchesfashion entered court administration; Farfetch was sold to Coupang; StockX and others ceased Korean operations. Lifestyle platforms Alest and 1300k closed in the same week.