ADERERROR’s Seoul Sinsa Flagship Store
ADERERROR Sinsa store façade
Korean brands are honestly setting new standards for retail experiences. While most luxury brands will be keeping their events for Seoul Art Week in September and so there’s a little break in temporary activations, I decided to decicate my time to further exploring the Korean brand landscape. I knew that one of the first things on my agenda would be seeing ADERERROR’s Sinsa flagship store.
Every detail is just chef's kiss – like the blue backlight on the security screen
I already had an idea about their so-called DNA after visiting the Seongsu flagship (blog review here), so I was curious to learn whether there’d be any elaboration on the futuristic theme or if I’d be simply revisiting familiar elements. Spoiler alert – no such thing as simple repetition with this brand. Let’s break it down:
TREAT YOUR RETAIL SPACES AS SEPARATE BOOKS IN THE SAME UNIVERSE – make it separate seasons of the same TV show, if you prefer. Not even chapters or episodes, treat them as separate stories that expand the realm. Coherent, connected, but at the same oh–so–exciting. Yes, we’re still in space, moving, but there are no spaceships and no astronauts (apart from the rubber-doll-like ones floating around on one of the digital artworks!). Instead, we have caves, planets, and space cathedrals.
First space uppon entering the store
Staircase leading from the ground floor
Digital art is displayed throuhgout the space
... and there are many curious mechanisms
Space cathedral lodged between the floor and staircase
And the space cathedral one more time – to give you a better understanding of the scale
We’ve had time travel and space travel-themed changing rooms in Seongsu-dong, now we have a train cabin with beds, passing what looks like European countryside.
The videos played look very realistic
and the accompanying sound completed the experience
MAXIMIZE IMPACT USING SIMPLE YET EFFECTIVE TECHIQUES – You have stained glass installed on a narrow passage? Install a mirror on the wall facing it. You have a bit of space between the floor and stairs? Build a miniature cathedral and place it there. If you leverage simple metal surfaces to create a futuristic ambiance – take an element like a simple connecting wire and increase its size x100 so it becomes a central design element (of a clothing rack). Leverage diverse textures if your color palette is limited – rasin, textile, stone, plastic, wood.
The multi-textured table enriches the monochromatic space design
The clothing rack design caught my attention
I love the multitude of textures in the space – different rocks, fluffy rugs, mirrors and glass, concrete-slapptered walls
The stained glass was built into a very narrow passage and so the spatial designers decided to place a mirror on the opposite wall to amplify it
The pipe became a shoe shelf, there are shelves made of colorful resin on the left and a product stand from the same material on the center, and a textured wall installation acting as product display
The table looks like an excavated piece of an asteroid or planet, the rotating shelves are placed on a silver cushion with colorful textile hanging from the wall – no opportunity to play with textures is wasted
THE SKY IS THE LIMIT, THE WORLD IS YOUR OYSTER – unleash your creativity and reframe the conversation – you don’t have to use the same worn-out playbook others have been using for decades. Why not install a karaoke bar in your carved-out-in-a-rock changing room? – check. Why not make a hole in the wall to fit the ambience and install plexi glass on both sides for it to funciton as a window? – check. Why create a simple table if it you can make it look like a rock excavated from the surface of another planet?
One of the changing rooms looked as if carved out in a rock
... and it had a karaoke setup inside with branded art playing on the screen
The hole-in-the-wall window and the infinite mirrors with two screens displaying human eyes were extremely impactful – also look at the shape of the clothing racks in the middle of the room!
Why put simple signs on walls if you can turn them into little videos (like the bathroom signs above bathroom doors) or textured plaques that echo other design elements already familiar to the visitor? Every possible element of the building and its surroundings is turned into an opportunity to include it into the interior – even a protective metal cover installed on the ground in front of the store, probably shielding electricity wires.
Rock-like cover of an element in the wall
More glass...
... and more rock
Tiny screens above the bathroom doors were playing videos
More stained glass, also reflected in a mirror...
... and reflected on th walls of the staircase.
The ceiling, the seats, the (?) lamp... everything stimulates the senses
MAKE IT SUSTAINABLE AND INCLUSIVE – one of the floors has a dedicated repair shop where you can have your ADERERROR items serviced. Not only is it a statement about the brand’s ethics, but also a statement on how it considers its items to be an investment worth mending. And in terms of inclusivity, ADERERROR has some of the most incluive ads in terms of ethnicity and age I’ve seen in Korea and in general reminds me a bit of the good old days of Benetton
ADERERROR's Significant line feels like a futuristic Benetton
The repair center was design with as much attention as the rest of the space
EXPLORE TECHNOLOGY IN A FUN WAY – the place is filled with digital screens, some smaller just showing off collections, and bigger ones displaying diverse digital art that complements the brand image. There’s also a hologram on the last floor, similar to the ones set up in one of the passages of the Seongsu flagship
MAKE IT A PLACE TO SPEND TIME – while it was closed for renovation when I visited, ADERERROR also seems to have its own bakery/coffee shop TONGUE PLANET that I definitely need to visit – the online images look amazing, as everything the creative team touches.
The TONGUE PLANET bakery was unfortunately still closed when I came – but here, you can see the branded ADER SPACE 3.0 cover in the ground
There are so many more things to discover in this location, including the limited edition collections – if you can, you must visit and see it for yourself. As for me, there’s apparently one more flagship in Seoul, so expect there to be a part three!
