Summer Stroll in Seoul’s (Luxury) Pop-Up Store Heaven, Seongsu
LOEWE ad along Seongsu’s main street, where the brand hosted its pop-up experience earlier this year – the electricity wires perfecly express the industrial atmosphere of this Seoul district
Many of you may have heard about Seoul’s Seongsu district these days. If you're not exactly sure what it's all about – I've got you!
So my husband tells me that Seongsu was originally an area where all the shoemakers had their workshops – meaning the actual traditional craft. To me it has an incredibly industrial vibe and is very unique because it blends luxury with the Korea I first came to know when I arrived here in 2008 – when I lived in Imun-dong, Dongdaemun-gu, one of Seoul’s least glamorous districts (and still one of my favorites!).
This is the place where Dior, Aesop, Le Labo, TAMBURINS, and ADERERROR have their flagship stores. It’s also often home to Chanel’s pop-ups – like the most recent one showcasing the COCO CRUSH fine jewelry, and it also previously hosted other luxury brands like Louis Vuitton, Coach, Jacquemus, and LOEWE. Then there was also Coca Cola and of course many Korean brands – the list goes on.
Advertisement for CHANEL’s latest pop-up COCO CRUSH
My first stop is typically Dior, as their concept store is the closest to the subway station. I love how majestic it is – in contrast with the general feel of Seongsu, but it livens it up beautifully with the green, meticulously cultivated garden the brand created as part of the experience.
The Dior Seongsu concept store is truly majestic
This time around, the space was reimagined for the Riviera 2024 Resort Collection, with beautiful sculptures and seasonal visuals made of shells.
Dior Riviera 2024 Resort Collection
Just opposite from Dior we have one of the most interesting Korean brands, TAMBURINS – Gentle Monster’s sister. I think this particular flagship store is their best one because the architecture is one of the best expressions of creativity I’ve seen in retail. The glass-covered concrete skeleton stands tall above the store located in the basement of the building.
Picture taken in April 2024
The entrance to TAMBURINS’ Seongsu store greets us with BLACKPINK’s Jenny and a white sculpture
The store is a futuristic, raw, and yet somewhat soft and feminine space filled with nature and cloudy textures. I love visiting the store every chance I have.
The central sculpture of a lovely elderly couple steals the show for me.
After the two destinations, I focused mostly on taking in the general atmosphere of the Seongsu area and checking out smaller and lesser known brands and stores. One of my favorites has to be RAIVE – I’ve spotted it in April this year and fell in love with the fun way screens, large and small, are adapted in the space. I will write a separate post on it so I am sharing only one picture not to spoil the fun.
The RAIVE store was very intriguing with the pink-hued video playing on a large screen and the cactuses set up at the entrance
The long street hosts not only fashion brands, but also little bakeries and coffee shops, a very cool stationery store, and also some workshops still ran by the original local crowd. I still have some big destinations to visit – like the brand Coor or Peaches, but I decided to leave that for another day.
My favorite ice cream store, 현대붕어빵
… which was unfortunately closed that day
The brand Coor is next on my exploration list
RERHEE stands out from the crowd
… has a cute interior desing with strong colors.
White and blue are the dominant combination
Some of the bakeries have a very traditional Korean feel to them and long, many with long lines of people willing to wait to try out something as simple as a 소금빵 - salted butter rolls.
Koreans have a talent for creating the absolute cutest things on planet Earth.
Just walking along the bustling street makes for a fun activity with so much going on. I have to say I love the mix of the most urban locations, tourist-focused destinations, and premium/luxury stores. No wonder Seongsu is the it-place, it’s retail’s answer to some of these places in Seoul that have both skyscrapers and traditional pagodas. It’s the high contrast that makes it so attractive.
Daniel’s Truth is a California-based perfume and home fragrance brand. The Seongsu store is cozy and has a very retro vibe
Rockfish Weatherwear was promoting the collaboration with MINJUKIM – one of Korea’s most well-known contemporary fashion designers. She has previously collaborated with & Other Stories.
I didn’t have the time to visit all of the stores – I just passed by Aesop this time, but Le Labo was another super interesting destination. I think the store is just perfect for the location with its gritty textures and vintage-industrial feel.
The Le Labo store found the perfect home in Seongsu
And of course, just as I was about to get on the subway, I noticed this amazingly branded store, E( )PTY. It’s operated by MUSINSA, South Korea’s hottest online fashion retailer. MUSINSA has been expanding into offline over the past few years and E( )PTY is a space where they offer a curation of domestic and international fashion and lifestile designer brands.
E( )PTY is operated by MUSINSA, Korea’s top fashion e-commerce platform that recently expanded into offline
That was it for the day, but I intend on going back next week because there’s still so much to explore. I hope I was able to channel some of the unique atmosphere of Seongsu through this article.
E( )PTY led me straight to exit no. 3 of the subway station
Taking into consideration how dynamic the space is, this might become a seasonal update – so stay tuned!
Inside the Seongsu subway station
