Christine Company

Christine Company is a South Korean fashion-tech firm targeting the digital transformation of the traditional footwear manufacturing sector. Founded on August 9, 2019, by brothers Lee Min-bong and Lee Min-young, the company was born from a deep-rooted connection to the industry; their parents operated a shoe material business in Busan, the historic center of Korean shoemaking. CEO Lee Min-bong, a serial entrepreneur with prior successful ventures, was motivated by the decline of the local industry to apply his experience, including a tenure at LG Uplus's process innovation team, to revitalize it.

The core of the business is "SINPLE," a B2B platform that digitizes and streamlines the complex, 120-step shoe production process. This solution connects shoe brands with a curated database of manufacturing factories, aiming to drastically cut production times from an average of 12 months down to one and reduce costs by up to 50%. By managing the supply chain and production through this digital hub, the company provides greater transparency and efficiency for its clients, which range from emerging designers to large corporations. Revenue is generated from this B2B manufacturing platform and through the sales of its own direct-to-consumer brands.

To complement its B2B operations, Christine Company has developed an AI-powered design recommendation system that analyzes market data and consumer trends to inform product development, reducing the design and sampling period from 60 to just 7 days. The firm also operates its own footwear brands, including the premium women's shoe line "Kristin" and the athleisure brand "Equa." The success of its "Kristin" brand, which secured a spot in the prestigious Avenuel department store, serves as a proof of concept for its technology-driven manufacturing model.

Keywords: shoetech, footwear manufacturing, fashion-tech, B2B manufacturing platform, digital transformation, supply chain management, shoe design, AI in fashion, Korean footwear industry, Lee Min-bong, SINPLE platform, Kristin shoes, Equa shoes, direct-to-consumer, production efficiency, cost reduction, fashion startup, Busan shoe industry, supply chain digitization, footwear technology