2026 fashion scholarship fund case study

For the 2026 Fashion Scholarship Fund Merchandising Case Study, I was tasked with creating a fully developed cross-industry collaboration between a fashion brand and a non-fashion brand. I chose Gentle Monster, the avant-garde Korean eyewear brand, and K-Pop Demon Hunters, Netflix’s most-watched movie of all time.

My responsibility was to propose a research-driven collaboration, develop an assortment of original eyewear designs, create a 6-month merchandising plan, analyze the consumer, craft an omni-channel launch strategy, and support everything with quantitative and qualitative data. The final deliverable merged merchandising, cultural analysis, and creative design into one cohesive business case.

INDEPENDENT work

While the FSF case study is an independent submission, the research and brainstorming phases included peer collaboration, shared critique, and ongoing support from professors. I developed all final designs, writing, financials, and strategy myself, but I leaned on conversations, feedback loops, and shared resources to refine and elevate the project.

My peers helped challenge my ideas, and my professors guided structure, clarity, and strategic framing. The final case study represents my personal vision, sharpened by a collaborative academic environment.

- Studying the eyewear market.
- Gentle Monster’s sales growth.
- KPDH’s global success and popularity.
- Building a detailed persona known as the Fandom Collector based on lifestyle, spending habits, and cultural behavior.
- Creating five original eyewear designs inspired by the characters, lyrics, and visual world of KPDH.
- Calculating turnover, markup, gross margin, receipts, BOM, and units for five stores.
- Designing teaser, reveal, launch, and post-launch phases modeled after K-pop promotional cycles .
- Proposing in-store installations, 3D sculptures, and retail layout plans aligned with Gentle Monster’s surreal retail world.
- Illustrating every eyewear concept by hand in Adobe Illustrator.
- Developing visual graphics for slides.

skills demonstrated

THE PROCESS

I began by analyzing both brands independently. Gentle Monster’s avant-garde identity, immersive retail, and fast-growing global footprint and K-Pop Demon Hunters’ cultural impact, mythology, and record-breaking popularity.

Next, I conducted a SWOT analysis to identify alignment opportunities between the two brands, including cultural depth, strong visuals, and cross-platform relevance.

From there, I examined:

Past Gentle Monster collaborations (Jentle Salon, Tekken 8, Bratz Pocket Collection)
Film-driven eyewear trends historically
The fandom merchandising lifecycle
Fashion-gaming crossovers

I then developed the collaboration concept: Gentle Demon Hunters, an exclusive eyewear line that fuses Korean folklore, K-pop aesthetics, and Gentle Monster’s sculptural design language.

Using lyrical references from Huntrix’s songs, I drew five custom eyewear styles which were Jagged Edges, Colors in My Head, Darkness & Harmony, Your Idol Saja, and Derpy & Sussie, each designed in Illustrator and presented as a realistic Gentle Monster web layout.

ASSORTMENT MIX

I followed with a full six-month merchandising plan, complete with SKU breakdowns, pricing logic, unit buying, projected sales, and visual merchandising allocations across five flagship stores.

To support the launch, I designed a K-pop-inspired marketing rollout including:

teaser silhouettes,
influencer seeding,
in-store exclusives like photocards and norigae,
immersive retail installations with D character sculptures
a 70% e-commerce / 30% in-store omni-channel split.

Finally, I outlined future growth opportunities, including pop-ups, sequel-based drops, and long-term franchise potential.

FINAL THOUGHTS

This case study taught me how to merge creative storytelling with rigorous merchandising strategy. I learned how to synthesize cultural research, fandom behavior, financial planning, and brand DNA into a commercially viable product line.

Most importantly, this project reinforced how powerful cross-industry collaborations can be and how a fashion brand and an entertainment IP can create something that resonates far beyond the product itself. Working on Gentle Monster x K-Pop Demon Hunters helped shape my vision for the kind of dynamic, culturally relevant merchandising strategy I want to build in my career.