Seoul’s Hannam Shopping District in Summer

A view on the Hannam area from one of the buildings along the shopping street

Now this one was another huge surprise – I knew some brands had their stores around Seoul’s Hannam district but I didn’t expect it to be such a fascinating environment, right in the middle of a transition from a still largely (old) residential area to a hot spot for vintage luxury, jewelry, and fashion. I was more used to the aesthetic of the main street, with stores such as L'Occitane. That’s where I also saw the TAMBURINS flagship that I recently wrote about. 

The L'Occitane store has a really cool neighbor.

I went to see 0.25s a.k.a. POINTTWOFIVE·SECOND’s new showroom – which will be discussed here – and ended up discovering a whole new world of retail experienes. It feels like Seongsu’s rich yet rebelious little cousin. Somehow closer to luxury and yet much more raw and rebelious at the same time.

One of the narrow streets in the Hannam shopping district.

Why, you might ask? While Seongsu was originally an industrial area, home to Seoul’s shoe workshops, Hannam is one of Seoul’s wealthiest housing areas, with embassies and international schools. A large portion of the people you see shopping there are affluent Koreans or tourists.

east pacific trade is a Seoul-based footwear and lifestyle brand rooted in skateboarding

At the same time, the particular neighborhood I visited is an old residential part not too far away from the main road. It’s mostly full of lowrise multi-story family homes associated with the 80’s. Then there’s also the selection of more high-end, up-and-coming brands that stand out due to their minimal but edgy designs. 

Hannam is a fascinating blend of ultra-trendy shops and old residential buildings.

This is probably also the only place I’ve seen stores close for lunch – because some of them will only have one employee working there. And since I arrived just at 12, when the whole country goes out for lunch, I had 30 minutes before my original destination reopens,  I decided to take a walk around the whole neighborhood to get a better idea about what makes it unique.

What stood out was the plethora of jewelry and fashion boutiques (also vintage), many of them independent offering both own designs and a curated selection.  

Lala Hannam, a vintage jewelry store, has the most curious-looking branding.

But that’s also where Dr. Martens, RSVP Paris, and Rockfish Weatherwear have flagships, Fila had a pop-up, and where I discovered a lot of trendy Korean fashion brands – like MUUT (eyewear), or BLUE ELEPHANT (eyewear), NIEEH (fashion)…

MUUT really stands out with thanks to the instalation at the store entrance.

The interior at MUUT uses a lot of stone, metal, and glass

The glass table was a favorite of mine.

… Mardi Mercredi (fashion) – this one with several locations, Nick & Nicole (fashion), ÊTRE AU SOMMET (fashion), CHRISTINE PROJECT (leather goods), east pacific trade (fashion), HERITAGEFLOSS (fashion), rough side (fashion), or 3,2,1, partez! (jewelry).

Mardi Mercredi has a dominant presence in Hannam with several locations – the pop-up…

a Mardi Mercredi Les Petits (for kids)…

and Mardi Mercredi-Actif (sportswear).

ÊTRE AU SOMMET has a huge inflated cat in front of the store, perfect for selfies.

FILA’s ‘How deel is our FILA?’ pop-up was amazing – it had a super fun installation on the building where people were taking selfies, and inside – on top of the really fun interior – there was also a photo machine where you could take selfies, decorate and print them.

Honestly, it’s the perfect place to go, have fun and discover what’s new before it becomes mainstream. Plus, there are also numerous small stores that offer a curated selection of trendy items. There’s one dedicated to quirky socks – Tabio.

I loved the door and little staircase leading to CHRISTINE PROJECT

Entrance to Tabio

I loved the cute but elegant sock display at Tabio

The lifestyle store – COSYMOSY , full of wonderful handmade items, caught my eye thanks to a little kitten statue sitting on the steep stairs leading to it. COSYMOSY also has a brand store on Korea’s largest fashion e-commerce platform, Musinsa.

There were so many amazing handmade items at COSYMOSY.

And of course, the use of retail tech was very visible, starting with very simple elements like digital displays or tablets showcasing the collections to more advanced omnichannel integration.

The area is also full of great coffee shops and bakeries, something Koreans in general do extremely well. I stepped into a few but definitely want to come back for more and take a friend with me.

Endive has the most delicious looking deserts and also serves acoholic drinks

I noticed an interesting exhibition but unfortunately wasn’t able to see it as it was closed on Mondays – note to self, do not go retail exploring on Mondays, you might find an art space.

RED HANNAM seems to be a bar/exhibition space, currently hosting an exhibition – ‘The Legend of Blue Dragon – Everlasting Illumination’

I finally made my way back to POINTTWOFIVE·SECOND – and the mini size actually made perfect sense now that I was more familiar with the atmosphere of the area. The fragrances offer is still quite minimal and so the space wasn’t cluttered and there was enough room to show off abit of character, with digital screens and neon lights.

The video features the newly launched fashion object.

The imagery of the newest campaign was quite captivating.

The display table had neon lights built into it.

The brand recently launched a fashion object made of metal that can be worn as a necklace. It has a little stick hidden inside that you can spray with your perfume of choice. Pretty quirky and the minimal design feels very on-brand.

The newly launched item and the accompanying campaign shown on a tablet.

I think my one of my absolute favorite things to witness was a residential building with the ground floor part of the façade covered in Basquiat-esque while the floor above had a towel and eggplants hung outside to dry – poetry for my soul! This was on the same street as said vintage luxury and jewelry shops, also same street as the POINTTWOFIVE·SECOND showroom. I’m in love. 

The cut up eggplants hung on clothing hangers, drying in the sun stole my heart.

As I made my way back up to the bus stop, I passed by the Hyundai Card MUSIC LIBRARY and ART LIBRARY + VINYL & PLASTIC. Hyundai Card is well know for it’s music and art-related initiatives, such as the smaller scale Understage concerts or Super Concert 27 series which featured stars such as Bruno Mars or Coldplay.

Entrance to Hyundai Card ART LIBRARY + VINYL & PLASTIC.

Entrance to the ART LIBRARY – the actual library is on the second floor and requires registration.

There are several sections, such as jazz & soul, pop & rock, and soundtrack music.

The VINYL & PLASTIC section

The casette tape music station – super oldschool

The Hyundai Card MUSIC LIBRARY and the amazing view from the entrance.

Hannam is a very unique area and while not as big of a shopping center as Seongsu or Dosan Park, it definitely has its own flavor, that gives you a sneak peek into old Korea while showing you what the country has to offer apart from the brands that made into mainstream.

The wall of one of the buildings near the POINTTWOFIVE·SECOND store.