Gentle Monster

Gentle Monster
Native name
젠틀몬스터
TypePublic
IndustryEyewear
Founded2011; 15 years ago (2011) in Seoul, South Korea
FounderHankook Kim
Headquarters
Seoul
,
South Korea
Area served
Worldwide
Products
ParentII Combined
Websitegentlemonster.com

Gentle Monster (Korean: 젠틀몬스터, stylized in all caps) is a South Korean brand of luxury sunglasses and eyeglasses founded in 2011. Gentle Monster is owned by parent company IICOMBINED, which also operates the fragrance brand Tamburins, dessert brand NUDAKE, headwear brand ATiiSSU, and tableware brand Nuflaat.

As of 2026, Gentle Monster operates 84 stores worldwide, and its products are available through over 450 retailers in 30 countries.

At Google I/O 2026, Samsung and Google showed intelligent eyewear designs co-created with Gentle Monster and Warby Parker.

Retail spaces

Gentle Monster store in Los Angeles

Gentle Monster's retail spaces incorporate iconic large-scale installations, sculptures, and themed environments. Its parent company IICOMBINED launched the HAUS retail concept in 2021 with HAUS DOSAN in Seoul and HAUS SHANGHAI, followed by HAUS NOWHERE SHENZHEN in 2024.

Robotic and kinetic sculptures have appeared in several Gentle Monster stores. The London flagship featured martial-arts-themed robots that were activated every three minutes. HAUS DOSAN featured The Probe, a six-legged robot developed over more than a year by Gentle Monster's Robotics Lab. At HAUS SHANGHAI, a robotic face created by the lab took a year to develop.

In 2025, the company opened HAUS NOWHERE SEOUL, a mixed-use headquarters and retail complex in Seoul that houses Gentle Monster alongside Tamburins, ATiiSSU, NUDAKE, and Nuflaat.

In December 2025, HAUS NOWHERE BANGKOK opened at Iconsiam as the fifth location in the series. It includes a Gentle Monster store and the first Tamburins flagship in Southeast Asia.

History

Serial entrepreneur Jae Wook Oh invested about $100,000 in 2012 and Gentle Monster began producing frames in Daegu, which had been a manufacturing hub for Luxottica, and China, since acetate frames are illegal to produce in South Korea. The brand's designs favor oversized frames that are much larger than those by Western brands because its Asian clientele prefer frames that create the image of a smaller face.

In 2013 and 2014, Korean actress Jun Ji-hyun wore Gentle Monster lenses on My Love From the Star, which increased the brand's exposure to a mainstream audience.

In February 2016, the company's first US store opened on Grand Street in SoHo, New York City. Its second US store opened in downtown Los Angeles in October 2017. French luxury goods conglomerate LVMH invested $60 million for a 7% stake in the company in September 2017.

In 2025, Google was reported to have agreed to invest approximately $100 million for a 4% stake in Gentle Monster as part of its partnership with the company to develop Android XR smart glasses, which were expected to launch in 2026.

Pricing

On average, a pair of sunglasses or glasses ranges from $200 to $300 depending on frames, lenses, and prescription. Prices do fluctuate and can be as high as $500.

Marketing and collaborations

Karina at HAUS NOWHERE Seoul in 2025

Items are all limited edition. Once sold out, restocks or repeat items are not guaranteed.

Gentle Monster has collaborated with a variety of designers and celebrities over the years to produce special collections. In 2016, the brand partnered with Danish designer Henrik Vibskov, Hood by Air, and Opening Ceremony. Actress Tilda Swinton designed three pairs of sunglasses with the brand in February 2017 and appeared in an accompanying ad campaign video. That year also saw a collaboration with Dutch furniture designer Marcel Wanders, the founder of Moooi, as well as a showing at New York Fashion Week.

In 2018, the brand collaborated on the Burning Planet exhibition with South Korean rapper Song Mino of Winner. The following year, Gentle Monster released smartglasses in collaboration with Chinese technology company Huawei.

In 2020, the brand collaborated with singer Jennie Kim of Blackpink to release the Jentle Home collection, and the Canadian former rapper Kris Wu for the release of the Gentle Wu collection. The brand has since released two more collections with Kim, in 2022 (Jentle Garden) and 2024 (Jentle Salon).

In 2023, the brand collaborated with Chinese singer Cai Xukun to release his Crystal Clear collection. An event app was developed for the collaboration which was available in mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Dubai, Singapore, Japan, and the United States, with pop-ups organised in Shanghai and Beijing.

In 2024, Gentle Monster collaborated with French luxury fashion house Maison Margiela on the "2024 Maison Margiela x Gentle Monster" collection. The same year, Gentle Monster collaborated with the video game Tekken 8, launching the "Gentle Monster x Tekken 8" collection inspired by characters from the game.

In March 2025, Gentle Monster and Maison Margiela released their third collaborative eyewear collection, which comprised 20 designs.

In 2025, the brand collaborated with Bratz featuring Aespa's Karina. The pocket collection included 21 designs with one collaborative eyepiece accompanied by a custom Bratz doll. To celebrate the collection, the brand opened up pop-up stores in 4 cities: Los Angeles, Seoul, Shanghai, and Bangkok, from May to October.

In 2026, Gentle Monster released the Circuit collection in collaboration with Disney and Formula One. In May, the brand introduced the Veggie Collection, a ten-style folding eyewear collection accompanied by a campaign featuring Karina of Aespa. That month, Samsung and Google showed intelligent eyewear designs created with Gentle Monster and Warby Parker. A second Gentle Monster frame and the first hardware specifications for the project were presented at Galaxy Unpacked in July. In July, Gentle Monster and Prada launched their first joint eyewear collection, consisting of three designs sold in select Asian markets. In September, the brand renovated its flagship store in SoHo, Manhattan, New York City. The redesigned store introduced Glossy Head Kinetic, a reinterpretation of the brand's Giant Head Kinetic installation, and was presented as a space showcasing Gentle Monster's design and artistic identity alongside its eyewear products.

Additional collaborations include, but are not limited to the video games Overwatch 2 and World of Warcraft, the fashion brands D'heygere, Moncler, and Fendi, and designer Alexander Wang.

Notes

  1. ↑ A mobile game was developed in promotion of Jentle Garden, while pop-up stores were opened in Seoul, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Shanghai, respectively.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Kim, Monica (8 September 2025). "Inside Gentle Monster's Haus Nowhere, the Concept Shop at the Center of Seoul's Creative Revolution". Vogue. Retrieved 12 June 2026.
  2. 1 2 Caraan, Sophie (10 September 2025). "Take a Closer Look at HAUS NOWHERE SEOUL". Hypebeast. Retrieved 12 June 2026.
  3. ↑ Kim, Candice (10 February 2026). "Korea's Gentle Monster marks 15 years, grows into global eyewear brand". AJU Press. Retrieved 12 June 2026.
  4. ↑ Lee, Michelle Jimin (10 July 2023). "Gentle Monster Sunglasses: How a Korean Luxury Brand Rose To Global Fame". Best of Korea. Retrieved 12 June 2026.
  5. ↑ "Samsung and Google Give First Look at New Intelligent Eyewear". Samsung Global Newsroom. May 20, 2026. Retrieved July 7, 2026.
  6. ↑ Izadi, Shahram (May 19, 2026). "Intelligent eyewear is coming this fall". The Keyword. Google. Retrieved July 7, 2026.
  7. ↑ "Gentle Monster Haus Dosan in Seoul". Designboom. February 26, 2021. Retrieved June 12, 2026.
  8. ↑ "Gentle Monster Haus Shanghai retail exhibition". Designboom. October 2, 2021. Retrieved June 12, 2026.
  9. ↑ "Gentle Monster Shenzhen store sculptures sleeping human bisons faces Haus Nowhere". Designboom. September 9, 2024. Retrieved June 12, 2026.
  10. ↑ "Shenzhen: HAUS NOWHERE opening". Superfuture. September 2024. Retrieved June 12, 2026.
  11. ↑ Steven, Rachael (19 September 2018). "The Gentle Monster experience". Creative Review. Retrieved 21 July 2026.
  12. ↑ Yoo, Ji-yoen (18 February 2021). "Showrooms replace stores as retailers try to pull in shoppers". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 21 July 2026.
  13. ↑ Moss, Jack (23 October 2023). "Step inside the greatest fashion stores around the world". Wallpaper*. Retrieved 21 July 2026.
  14. ↑ "Gentle Monster Haus Nowhere Seoul giant breathing dachshund installation". Designboom. September 10, 2025. Retrieved June 12, 2026.
  15. ↑ The Beat Asia (December 12, 2025). "Haus Nowhere Debuts in Bangkok, Introducing Two Korean Flagship Stores". The Beat Asia. Retrieved August 27, 2026.
  16. 1 2 3 4 How Gentle Monster Rode the K-Pop Wave to $160 Million LAUREN SHERMAN, Business of Fashion, JULY 17, 2016
  17. ↑ MEET GENTLE MONSTER, A KOREAN BRAND CREATING EYEWEAR FOR EVERY FACE SHAPE NOËL DUAN, fashionista.com April 26, 2016
  18. ↑ Gentle Monster Opens New Store in Downtown Los Angeles Renz Ofiaza, Highsnobiety, 11 October 2017
  19. ↑ It's harvest time at Gentle Monster's new boutique in Los Angeles JESSICA KLINGELFUSS, Wallpaper*, 27 October 2017
  20. 1 2 3 Schmidt, Ingrid (September 29, 2017). "Eyewear Label Gentle Monster's Gallery Store Lands in L.A." The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved June 12, 2026.
  21. ↑ "Google to invest in Gentle Monster for Android XR smart glasses partnership". KED Global. June 20, 2025. Retrieved June 15, 2026.
  22. ↑ Song, Victoria (May 20, 2025). "Android XR is getting stylish partners in Warby Parker and Gentle Monster". The Verge. Retrieved June 15, 2026.
  23. ↑ G. de Aros, Sofia (May 22, 2021). "What is Gentle Monster and Why Do Celebs Love This Korean Brand?".
  24. ↑ Lee, J. J. (2023-10-12). "Mastering the Art of Branding: Unveiling Gentle Monster's Design Strategy". Medium. Retrieved 2024-03-19.
  25. ↑ "PROFILE: GENTLE MONSTER | CRASH Magazine". www.crash.fr. Retrieved 2024-03-19.
  26. ↑ "Gentle Monster: The Korean Sunglasses brand Revolutionising the Eyewear Industry". www.farfetch.com. Retrieved 2024-03-19.
  27. ↑ Eyewear Label Gentle Monster's Gallery Store Lands in L.A. Ingrid Schmidt, 9/29/2017
  28. ↑ Meet the New Guard Showing at New York Fashion Week Vogue Fall 2017
  29. ↑ 젠틀몬스터, 송민호와 아트 콜라보레이션 '버닝플래닛' 오픈. Maeil Broadcasting Network (in Korean). October 4, 2018.
  30. ↑ "Gentle Monster Collaborates With Huawei on a Fashionable Smart Eyewear". designscene. August 28, 2019.
  31. ↑ "JENTLE HOME CAMPAIGN | GENTLE MONSTER". www.gentlemonster.com. Retrieved April 13, 2020.
  32. ↑ Leung, Ambrose (June 23, 2020). "Gentle Monster Introduces "Gentle Wu" Collection with Kris Wu". Hypebeast.
  33. 1 2 "Gentle Monster and BLACKPINK's Jennie Launch Pop-Up Dreamscapes". Hypebeast. March 18, 2022. Retrieved March 21, 2022.
  34. ↑ Li, Joyce (April 22, 2024). "BLACKPINK's Jennie and Gentle Monster Debut New Collaboration". Hypebeast. Retrieved August 27, 2026.
  35. ↑ "GENTLE MONSTER ✕ KUN Campaign". Gentle Monster. Archived from the original on November 14, 2025. Retrieved March 8, 2026.
  36. ↑ "Embark on a secret mission with Kun X Gentle Monster". V Magazine. April 20, 2023. Archived from the original on March 4, 2024. Retrieved March 8, 2026.
  37. ↑ "KUN Pop-up store". Gentle Monster. Archived from the original on March 8, 2026. Retrieved March 8, 2026.
  38. ↑ "MAISON MARGIELA x GENTLE MONSTER". Gentle Monster. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
  39. ↑ "GENTLE MONSTER x TEKKEN8". Gentle Monster. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
  40. ↑ Kelly, Dylan (February 28, 2025). "Maison Margiela and Gentle Monster Are Back With Their Biggest Collab Yet". Hypebeast. Retrieved August 27, 2026.
  41. ↑ Son, Jin-a (May 22, 2025). 카리나X젠틀모스터, 신규 컬렉션 티징 영상 공개 [Karina X Gentle Monster Release Teaser Video for New Collection]. MK Sports (in Korean). Archived from the original on May 22, 2025. Retrieved May 22, 2025.
  42. ↑ "Pocket Collection with Bratz feat. Karina". Gentle Monster. Archived from the original on July 2, 2025. Retrieved March 8, 2026.
  43. ↑ "Circuit Disney × F1® Collection". Gentle Monster. Retrieved June 16, 2026.
  44. ↑ "Gentle Monster brings Disney to the F1 track". Harper's Bazaar Australia. March 7, 2026. Retrieved June 16, 2026.
  45. ↑ Leung, Zoe (May 20, 2026). "Karina of aespa Stars in Gentle Monster's "Veggie" Collection Campaign Film". Hypebeast. Retrieved June 16, 2026.
  46. ↑ "Gentle Monster Launches 2026 Veggie Collection". The Impression. Retrieved June 16, 2026.
  47. ↑ "Samsung and Google Give First Look at New Intelligent Eyewear". Samsung Global Newsroom. May 20, 2026. Retrieved June 16, 2026.
  48. ↑ Izadi, Shahram (May 19, 2026). "Intelligent eyewear is coming this fall". The Keyword. Google. Retrieved June 16, 2026.
  49. ↑ Chokkattu, Julian; Ashworth, Boone (May 19, 2026). "Hands-On With All of Google's New Upcoming Android XR Smart Glasses". Wired. Retrieved June 16, 2026.
  50. ↑ Preston, Dominic (July 22, 2026). "Here's what Samsung's smart glasses actually look like". The Verge. Retrieved August 27, 2026.
  51. ↑ GQ Japan (29 June 2026). プラダ×ジェントルモンスター、初のコラボコレクションを発表──坂口健太郎が出演するキャンペーンにも注目 [Prada and Gentle Monster announce their first collaborative collection]. GQ Japan (in Japanese). Retrieved 21 July 2026.
  52. ↑ WWD Staff (30 June 2026). 「ジェントルモンスター」が「プラダ」とのコラボコレクション全3型を発売　キャンペーンには坂口健太郎を起用 [Gentle Monster releases a three-design collaborative collection with Prada]. WWD Japan (in Japanese). Retrieved 21 July 2026.
  53. ↑ Jang, Ji-young (2026-09-23). "젠틀몬스터, 中 황금연휴 큰손 잡기…'명품·AI 안경' 차별화" [Gentle Monster targets big-spending Chinese tourists during the Golden Week holiday with luxury and AI eyewear]. Asia Today (in Korean).