the first to do so.  Founded by twin brothers Jae-Mo Gu and Jin-Mo Gu, the streetwear brand is best known for its oversized ‘baby face’ hoodies and t-shirts, which are emblazoned with delightfully absurd images of babies and toddlers eating donuts, wearing sunglasses, holding soft toys, and other seemingly random activities.  Less than five years after opening their first store in Seoul’s buzzy Gangnam district in 2017, the brothers now have a network of more than 20 ADLV stores in Korea, 32 stores in China and as of this year, two stores in Australia at QV Melbourne and Chadstone shopping centre.  ADLV also sells on Tmall, Qoo10, Shoppee, Lazada and its own globale e-commerce sites.  “Our goal is to continue leading the streetwear fashion industry and expand our market into Australia, Americas, and Europe,” the brothers told Inside Retail in an email interview. “Currently, we are getting acknowledged by European clients and soon foresee growth in that market.” Riding the hallyu wave Jae-Mo and Jin-Mo had a business importing high-end luxury goods into Korea when they decided to launch ADLV. Based on their experience in the industry, they knew consumers were attracted to cute designs, and by pairing them with the emerging oversized fit trend, ADLV became an instant hit.  The early exposure the brand received from Korean celebrities was another key factor in its success.  “A lot of the Korean singers and pop stars that were leading the global hallyu phenomenon wore ADLV, which made it the ‘must have fashion item’ amongst the [millennial and gen Z] generation,” the brothers said.  Hallyu is a Chinese term that literally translates to ‘Korean wave’. It refers to the global popularity of Korean pop culture, entertainment, music, TV and movies, and according to the Korean Foundation for International Cultural Exchange, it was worth US$12.3 billion in 2019. ADLV has doubled down on the halo effect of hallyu in recent years with a string of celebrity partnerships. In 2020, the brand teamed up with K-Pop band Twice, which has topped the Girl Group Brand Power Ranking list several times, and this year, it worked with Korean actress Sandara Park, rapper Mino and famous musical couple Dawn and Hyuna.  “This has brought global attention to ADLV and elevated the brand image significantly,” the brothers said.  Heading to Europe in 2023 Following its entry into the Australian market, ADLV is looking to launch in Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam in 2022, and Europe in 2023. This is partly in response to the increased level of competition at home. “The competition is very fierce in Korea,” the brothers said. “Trends change very fast and consumers nowadays transfer from one brand to another very easily. Building brand loyalty is much harder than it was a few years ago.” One way that ADLV attempts to mitigate this is through the quality of its materials and unique manufacturing process. The brand uses Korean cotton and a special knitting process that maximises the density of cotton and gives the fabric a distinctly luxurious feel.  The fabric also goes through a ‘tender’ process to prevent the clothes from losing their shape, and is wetted and dried in a machine to minimise shrinkage. “ADLV clothing is manufactured under much higher quality standards than its competitors,” the brothers said.  Most ADLV clothing is made in Korea.  “We insist on this in order to maintain the high quality of our products,” they said.