The new brand, Million Beauty, was launched on May 9 with a star-studded bash including entertainers such as actors Yim Eun Kyung and Yeo Hyeon Hyun.
Dance revolution
Million Beauty is an online exclusive brand with a line-up that consists of five products including a face cream, face mist and cushion foundation.
The company said the brand will showcase “cosmetics with proven functions and effects”
“Million Beauty is a sensational beauty brand for millions who want to deny uniformity of 'beauty', enjoy their own life and express their beauty,” said the company in a statement.
To capture millennial beauty consumers, the company plans to aggressively market the brand with the help of social media and influencers.
According to the company, Million Beauty was developed with the help of 1Million’s dance instructors, including co-founder and choreographer Lia Kim.
“In order to launch cosmetics that pursue this brand philosophy and lifestyle, Million Beauty has worked with 'One Million' from product planning stage onwards.”
1Million is a leading dance studio in South Korea that has trained K-pop acts such as BoA, 2NE1, Girls’ Generation, Jay Park and GOT7.
The high-profile stars that have waltzed through the studio have also made its dance instructors celebrities in their own right.
The studio has over 15m subscribers on YouTube and its videos have been viewed a total of over 3.5bn times.
Million Beauty is not the studio’s first high-profile commercial collaboration. It has previously worked with multiple international brands such as Adidas, Uniqlo and The North Face.
The company said it plans to leverage the global popularity of the dance studio and its instructors and expand the brand overseas.
"1Million has a huge overseas fan base in North America, China, Japan and so on. Million Beauty plans to target not only domestic but also overseas markets through 1Million.”
The company did not mention if it had plans to expand the product range.
Borrowing star power
Celebrity collaborations have proven to be extremely effective in idol-obsessed South Korea.
In 2017, VT Cosmetics exploded globally after collaborating with Korean pop group, BTS, to develop a sun care product, the Sun Essence Cushion.
VT Cosmetics launched the sun care compact with seven different shades that were selected by the group members to represent their own personalities.
The success of the product prompted the brand to continue its partnership and has released a full skin care and make-up line with the K-pop group.