Famous Korean Eyewear Brand Blue Elephant’s CEO Arrested

In a shocking development for the fashion industry, the CEO of eyewear brand Blue Elephant has been arrested and indicted for allegedly copying designs from luxury brand Gentle Monster, marking what authorities are calling Korea’s first-ever criminal case centered on design imitation.

According to the Daejeon District Prosecutors’ Office’s Patent Crime Investigation Division, CEO Choi was formally arrested and indicted on March 12 for violating the Unfair Competition Prevention Act. The company’s head of operations, Woo, and the corporation itself were also indicted without detention on the same charges.

Investigations revealed that from February 2023 to June 2025, Choi allegedly sold hundreds of thousands of glasses and sunglasses across 49 models that closely imitated Gentle Monster designs. The products were either supplied by domestic wholesalers or directly manufactured through factories in China. Total revenue from these sales is estimated to be around ₩12.3 billion KRW (about $8.27 million USD).

What shocked authorities even further was the level of replication. A 3D scan comparison reportedly showed that more than half of the products had less than a 1mm difference from the originals, making them nearly indistinguishable from authentic Gentle Monster items.

Even more controversially, it was revealed that Blue Elephant had no in-house eyewear designers at all. Instead of designing or producing original products, the company allegedly relied entirely on overseas counterfeit manufacturers, focusing its efforts on high-end branding and aggressive marketing to sell the products as legitimate fashion items.

The case began after a complaint was filed by IICOMBINED, the parent company of Gentle Monster. The Korean Intellectual Property Office’s special judicial police launched an investigation in December 2024. Although an initial arrest warrant was denied by the court in November, prosecutors later secured additional evidence, including import/export records and financial data, leading to a second warrant being issued on February 11.

Further investigation uncovered an additional ₩2.80 billion KRW (about $1.88 million USD) in revenue from 15 more copied models, with imitation products accounting for over 40% of total sales during certain periods. Authorities have since seized approximately 150,000 units of counterfeit inventory (valued at ₩7.30 billion KRW (about $4.91 million USD)) to prevent further distribution. Prosecutors also stated that they plan to recover the full amount of illegal profits, estimated at 12.3 billion[/krw].

Industry insiders say the case sets a major precedent, as design imitation, long considered a gray area in fashion, has now crossed into clear criminal territory. As the line between “inspiration” and “replication” comes under scrutiny, this case may mark a turning point for how design theft is prosecuted in Korea’s fashion and beauty industries.