First-Generation Fashion Platform HipHopper Service Termination

The first-generation fashion platform HipHopper is set to terminate its services on November 1st.

HipHopper announced, "The last purchase service will be available until 12 PM on Friday, October 20th," and “the service will be terminated starting November 1st.” New member registrations have been restricted since October 1st. HipHopper's parent company, Baba Fashion, has been attempting to sell HipHopper for several months, but as no buyers have come forward, the service is reportedly heading towards closure. Experts indicate that the fashion platform market is already saturated, and recently, due to the economic downturn, there has been a significant decrease in investor interest in such platform companies.

HipHopper, along with Musinsa, was highly popular as a first-generation fashion platform. The popularity of HipHopper at that time is evidenced by numbers.

Launched in June 2000, HipHopper was a fashion webzine and online store that featured around 1,600 brands, with a membership of 1.2 million and nearly 50,000 daily visitors. Since its launch, HipHopper has shown double-digit growth rates year-over-year and has expanded into various businesses, including offline distribution networks.

HipHopper experienced growth with the spread of street culture in the early 2000s, but saw a decline in public interest in the mid to late 2000s, causing a temporary slowdown. However, since 2010, with the resurgence of interest in subcultures, HipHopper entered a new phase of growth.However, Musinsa, which was once on par with HipHopper, focused on commerce and grew in size, while HipHopper took a different direction by opening complex cultural spaces like '541Lab'.The first offline store of HipHopper, '541Lab', is a select shop where one can experience domestic and international street brands based on subcultures like hip hop, breakdancing, and graffiti.Later, in August 2018, the fashion company Baba Fashion acquired HipHopper and continued the service, but it has halted operations due to lack of profitability. It is interpreted that it was difficult to secure profitability amidst the worsening economy and competition among fashion platform companies.