seongsu

I no longer remember exactly how this neighbourhood ended up on my brief. But it was there, and that was enough.

The way I travel in Seoul is not tourism. It’s reconnaissance. One week to map the city neighbourhood by neighbourhood, to understand the Korean mindset from the inside through spaces, fashion, artistic events, encounters. Seoul is the capital of concept stores, a world of its own for a Parisienne like me. The brief was built around that.

Coming out of the metro I reached for my phone. Not out of reflex. Because I could feel that what I was seeing deserved to be kept. Seongsu was a coup de cœur that immediate, overwhelming feeling of arriving somewhere I had always belonged.

I had left Seoul without moving. No wonder they call it the Brooklyn of Korea.

osoi

We walked to Osoi, the first stop on the brief. Osoi is a Seoul-based leather goods and footwear house, founded in 2016 by designer Heejin Kang. Accessible luxury, sculptural lines, geometric silhouettes and that subtle retro quality in the hardware that makes every piece instantly recognisable.

The impact was immediate. Not just because of the pieces themselves, but because of the way everything had been thought through : the layout, the mood, the entire space telling a story. Full focus right here.

the walk

What struck us as we wandered were the concept cafés. On every glass façade, three words written small : café, books, plants. Or café, clothes, surf. The examples are made up but the idea holds : each owner had gathered all their passions into a single space, however unrelated. And honestly, I was completely here for it.

It broke something open. That image of Korea as a nation of white-collar workers condemned to 40 years of 12-hour days at a meaningless desk. There is another Korea, the one made of people who made different choices, sometimes at great cost. And that Korea is what gives birth to neighbourhoods like Seongsu. I recognised myself in it, even if I didn’t step inside a single one of those cafés. Let’s say I had too much shopping to do.

And then there was the calm. Wide streets, garages, men doing manual work, even a concept café for bikers. The hands of the clock moved slower here. Walking through it I caught myself imagining living there. 편하게 숨쉴 수 있어요, 여기요. That’s what I kept thinking.

It was the first time I truly saw myself living in Seoul.

lunch

By midday we were hungry. We stopped by chance at a café. Not a concept store, more of a franchise. The interior was empty. Just my luck, exactly how I like it.

We were served by an ajusshi. There was something about him that drew you in : a gentleness, a politeness, a quiet investment in what he was doing. He helped us choose, we did our best to communicate in Korean as usual, and we thanked him. He seemed to be in the last stretch of his working life, and something told me it wasn’t easy for him to be there. Though what do I really know.

I ordered a juice I thought was detox and turned out to be very much not, and a bulgogi sandwich. It did the job perfectly.

million archive

We covered a lot of ground and a lot of vintage shops. And my favourite was, somewhat ironically, the only one that had been on the brief from the start : Million Archive. The research had been serious, and it paid off.

I loved it so much I gave it its own article.

marge sherwood

Then came Marge Sherwood. Mon binôme knew the brand well, just like Osoi. She has that sharp eye for fashion that makes you trust her instincts without question. She was particularly curious to discover these two worlds on their home turf. Because it’s always different when you’re at the source, and we had no idea yet just how right she was.

Full focus here, worth every second.

love old forest

And the best for last, my Instagram find : Love Old Forest.

Scouting on social media is a simple art really. You follow people living the lifestyle you aspire to, in the place you have your eye on, and you save the gems as you go. That’s all there is to it.

Love Old Forest is a vintage sunglasses store and is exactly the kind of place you don’t stumble upon by accident. Full story here.