[Recap] Kakao Friends Launches ‘APEACH KANGDANIEL EDITION’ Collection

 By btcp77 

On January 31, Kakao Friends released a video teaser on their Instagram, hinting at a collaboration with a K-pop artist. Fans quickly deduced that the mysterious male artist was none other than Kang Daniel. For fans familiar with Kang Daniel’s trademarks, the mole under the right eye of the Apeach character in the video was a dead giveaway.

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In fact, since Kang Daniel first appeared on Produce 101 Season 2 with his distinct pink hair and cute bunny teeth, fans have been linking his resemblance to the KakaoTalk character Baby Apeach, thus earning him the nickname Prince Apeach (왕자 어피치). Fans have also been gifting Kang Daniel with Apeach merchandise and visiting the Apeach Café in Busan as part of the fanmade Niel Tour.

So imagine fans’ excitement when Kakao Friends finally confirmed that they were indeed collaborating with Kang Daniel for a special APEACH KANGDANIEL EDITION collection! The collection had a total of 47 products – 31 fashion and home products released on February 7 and the remaining 16 products, including fan goods, released on February 21. The collection was made available on Kakao Friends’ official global online store, as well as all offline stores in Korea; Omotesando APEACH, Ikebukuro Sunshine City, and Wego in Japan; and ALAND in Brooklyn, NY USA.

Kang Daniel was personally involved in the making of the collection from planning out what items he wanted to see to making design suggestions. He talked about what he likes to do when he’s not on stage, what his favorite kind of airport fashion is, and what kind of items he wanted to prepare for his fans.

Behind-the-scenes videos in the making of the APEACH KANGDANIEL EDITION collection

As expected, the launch of the APEACH KANGDANIEL EDITION collection on February 7 was met with overwhelming enthusiasm from the fans, with long queues and products flying off the shelves the moment the stores opened. Fans who were lucky to arrive first were gifted with a special Apeach-shaped balloon at limited stores in Seoul.

The 2nd launch on February 21 was met with similar enthusiasm. To date more than half of the 47 products are currently sold out on Kakao Friends’ official global online store after re-stocking. Check out the collection at Kakao Friends’ Global Store and Amazon.