trendsetters and shopaholics! If ‘fashion’
is your middle name and shopping is your game then check
out this ultimate shopping guide to the hottest shops
in Seoul. Whether you’re a Carrie Bradshaw buff,
a Harajuku hipster, a metrosexual, or a designer junkie
you’ll find you’re the gear you need to
get ‘super-styling’! (Addresses
and phone numbers were included where possible.)
APKUJONG
THE
GALLERIA - There are many big dept stores in
Seoul, like Hyundai, Lotte and Shinsagae. The one that
outclasses them all is the Galleria dept store. The
building with the seashell-like façade is the
building which houses international designers as well
as Korean designers. It’s hands down, the most
fashion-oriented dept store. Renovations were made recently
to the interior and now the store boasts a slick contemporary
design and cool displays. If you can’t afford
to sell your first born child to buy the over-priced
designer gear, not to worry, try the options listed
below. The Galleria is always a great place to window
shop and trend spot.
DESIGNER
SHOE ALLEY- Between the Galleria and the Cheongdam
Intersection is a street which houses all the luxury
brands like Prada, Calvin Klein, Armani etc… When
you see Gucci, walk up the little street to the left
of the shop and make your first right. Here you will
stumble across 4 amazing Korean designer shoe shops
that will have shoe enthusiasts drooling!
NAMUHANA (96-22, Cheongdam-Dong 3442-7567).
This store with the orange awning is the first shop
you will come upon. This small store specializes in
elegant and fancy stilettos fit to wear to any occasion
that requires a walk down the red carpet. They probably
won’t have your size, but you can custom order
it and it takes about a week.
Next stop is the arsty HYAANG shop.
This shop made it’s debut in Samcheong-Dong, but
then decided to move to the Cheongdam shoe alley since
shoe connisuers were starting to flock to this street
in droves. The shop is styled in bleached wood and has
an art-house feel to it. The shoes are spaciously displayed
and they are truly works of art. These shoes are highly
original and ‘too cool for school’.
HEELS is next (99-7 Cheongdam-dong
2549-7874). This shop has funky but upmarket shoes that
you could wear on special occasions.
SUE COMMA BONNIE (96-5 Cheongdam Dong
3443-0217)is the last stop on the shoe street. These
shoes are glamourous, sexy and trendy enough to wear
clubbing.
VIEW THE HOT NEW FLASH FASHION LAYOUT FEATURING SUE
COMMA BONNIE SHOES!
MUE
(93-6 Cheongdam-dong 3446-8074) and BOON THE
SHOP - If your wallet is so big, it’s
burning a hole in your pocket, then head to these designer
shopping galleries in Apku. Both are near the California
Fitness Center. Tell the taxi to take you to ‘Designer
Club’ (dee-jai-nuh club). MUE
is on the alley that goes up between Burger King and
Coffee bean. BOON THE SHOP is near
Anna Bini restaurant. These two shop have all designer
gear in a museum-like atmosphere. If you're after Stella,
Chloe, Helmut Lang, and Manolo, these shops are right
up your alley.
Getting
to and around Apkujong- If you can afford to
shop in this area, then you may as well take a taxi
and tell them to take you to Galleria pek-wha-jom (dept
store) or Designer Club Apkujong (dee-jai-nuh club).
The subway unfortunately doesn’t come near the
shopping area. Rodeo Street is a notable
shopping area near Designer Club filled with a myriad
of small shops with cool clothes. However, we can’t
recommend any particular shop here because they change
all the time. You should just go for a stroll until
something catches your eye. Even then, Tongdaemun, MyongDong
and Itaewon probably have the same stuff for less.
ITAEWON
If you have champagne taste on a beer budget, then you
can find lots of designer bargains at the ITAEWON
MARKET (sometimes known as the UNDERGROUND
MARKET ) The underground market is near McDonald’s
at the end of Itaewon main street. Here you will find
designer overrun items from Marc Jacobs, Catherine Malandrino,
Diane Von Furstenburg, MiuMiu, Rebbeca Taylor and BCBG
to name a few. Some of these items may be fakes and
some of them are slightly irregular, but who cares it’s
a quarter of the price and just as stylish! Some of
the things in the Itaewon market are on runways the
very same season! You can always get items tailored
if they don’t quite fit. Stylistas have found
many treasures in this charmingly disorganized market.
VICTORY
TOWN - This newly renovated market took it’s
cue from the Itaewon Market and started selling more
designer overrun stuff. You can also find some ethnic
boho import shops and there are a few funky-trendy shops
as well as shops where you can buy dresses to wear to
fancy events. Victory Town is right next to Itaewon
Market.
Getting
to and around Itaewon- Itaewon is one long
street so it’s virtually impossible to get lost.
Take subway line 8 to Itaewon station or tell the taxi
driver to take you to Hamilton Hotel, Itaewon.
MYONGDONG
SALVATION PARADISO- This hipster store
takes up the entire third floor of the Kosney Lifestyle
building (also known as Avatar. It’s across the
street from Avenue L and Lotte Young Plaza). Upon entering,
you will find a designer section which sells Cavalli,
Vivienne Westwood, Gian Franco Ferre among others. There
are also sections with experimental Korean designs,
imported ethnic clothing and vintage clothing. You can
get bags, jewelry hats and belts as well as clothes.
The store is like an artist’s loft with a smattering
of motley art displays mixed in with the clothes racks.
On one corner, you’ll find a sequined baby mannequin,
or a running water fountain, or big sculptures made
of paper mache. There are even different fitting rooms
for the different styles of outfits you’re trying
on! (There’s a disco fitting room, a punk fitting
room, a baroque fitting room etc…!!) If you’re
tired, you can stop for a coffee at their café,
or you can even have some hair extensions put in to
match your outfit! Besides the designer section, the
clothing is quite affordable. This is a good one stop
shop for fashionistas. They sell metrosexual men’s
clothes too.
ELOQ-
This newly renovated shop features of cutting edge designs
with a smattering of “hard to understand”
clothes that you would usually only wear to impress
your clubby fashion friends. One season Eloq did punky
Pat Benatar. This season, there’s a bit of a Victorian
influence. The designs usually depend on the hot trends
of the season. This up-and -coming Korean designer learned
fashion in Italy and is becoming a big deal in Seoul.
The clothes are generally cut well and there are a lot
of interesting pieces. There’s also a section
for men.
CIRCLE
AND SUPERMARKET (There are 5 branches of this
store in Myong Dong. Get a map at the tourist info booth
and all these stores are listed.)- This trio of shops
sells what I call J-pop clothing. There are a lot of
deconstructed clothes in bright colors with a dash of
ironic ‘80’s influence. It’s the kind
of place where you would find a vintage-y handmade bag,
to wear with your skirt with leggings underneath. And
don’t they just have the perfect flat pointy shoes
in green alligator to go with it?? And while you’re
at it doesn’t this fedora hat with the feather
put the whole look together?
CODES
COMBINE (53-11 Myong Dong 2-Ga 776-6385)- This
Korean brand has slouchy, punky, deconstructed or very
contructed clothes which are reminciscent of Yohji Yamamoto
or Comme des Garcons. The clothes in the shop are color
coded so they are easy to match and they are usually
in muted tones like gray, black, navy and army green.
Getting
to and around MyongDong- Myong Dong can be
reached by subway line 4 Myong Dong station and line
2 Euljiro 1-ga stn. There are tourist info booths with
good maps of the area in front of the Avatar building,
next to the Unesco building and in front of the Avenue
L luxury shopping center (across from MyongDong)
TONGDAEMUN
DOOTA (aka Doosan Tower)-
Tongdaemun has always been a
fashionista’s paradise, but ever since the Cheonggyecheon
Stream got rebuilt, the whole area has experienced a renaissance.
Doota is no exception. Basement 1 and the 2nd floor have
been recently upgraded and are the best place to find
clothes for gals. You can get any kind of look you want
here, but if you’re not careful and don’t
know what you’re doing, you may come out looking
ridiculous. Bring your inner stylist.
The shoe floor offers a wide range of designer-look-alike
(MiuMiu, Chloe, Ferragamo) shoes at fairly decent prices.
If they don’t have your size, you can order shoes
and it takes about a week. 5 years ago, all the shoes
were 50 dollars or less, and they looked it. These days
Doota is practically a designer shoe mall! Boots are from
100-250 USD and shoes are from 60-150 USD
The accessories floor also offers brilliant jewelry for
any occasion! My personal saying is “Window shop
at the Galleria in Apku and buy the same look for one
tenth of the price at Doota.”
PYEONGHWA
MARKET (aka Pyeonghwa Fashion Plaza)-
This building next to Doota is shaped like a long corridor.
Pyeonghwa has a series of stalls which sells accessories
such as scarves, belts, hats and fur items. Things are
super cheap here since it’s mainly a wholesale
market. The more you buy, the cheaper it gets. Some
things are junk, but you can also find a lot of treasures
here and it’s fairly organized.
DONGDAEMUN
SHOPPING COMPLEX (formerly called Dongdaemun
Chain store)-This massive building is mostly for the
advanced fashionista, stylists and designers. It’s
across the Cheonggyecheon stream from the Pyeonghwa
Market. If you make your own clothes, it’s heaven!
There are 4 floors of glorious fabric. You can get anything
from fake fur, to leather to pleather to wools, cottons,
stretch fabric with patterns, velvet and fabrics for
Hanbok. On the 5th floor, there is a huge bead market
where jewelry designers can go crazy buying beads, chains
etc.. for earrings and necklaces. On the ground floor
you can get sewing equipment, buckles for belts iron-on
sequins, button etc…It’s an incredible market
for those with creative vision.
Getting
to and getting around Dongdaemun: If you say
“Doota, Tongdaemun” most taxi drivers will
know where to take you. You can also take subway lines
1 to Dongdaemun and lines 2,4 and 5 to Dongdaemun Stadium.
Additionally, the tourist information center at the
Tongdaemun stadium across the big street from DOOTA
has excellent maps of the area.
The Dongdaemun Market information center on the 2nd
floor of the Seoul Tourist Information Center (Euljiro
7-ga street 1,Jung-gu, Seoul) provides a lot of services
including translation, consultation and buying information
for Dongdaemun. 02-2254-3300/1674/1675 Here'sa terrific
link: http://www.dft.co.kr/en/mall/mall.htm
HONGDAE
Metrosexual Men will have a field day at these shops
in Hongdae: VOLKSWAGEN-
start off at exit 6 of Hongdae station and walk in till
you see a street with red brick in the middle Make a
left and you will come across Volkswagen. 334-8817 (345-1
Seokyo-dong, Mapo-Gu) This is a fairly large shop with
t-shirts, jeans, man-bags and hats. This shop and the
next two shops sell clothes in the same vein as Diesel
and Energie. Exit out the back way from Volkswagen and
turn left and on the corner you will find two shops.
CHECK
(345-27 Seokyo-dong 334-7947) and HULK
(346-53 Seokyo-dong 3142-7939). Both of these shops
usually have trendy menswear, but the clothes are mostly
for men on the slim side.
GENERAL
IDEA by Che Bum Suk- This Korean men’s
designer has somewhat punk ironic ‘80s gear, but
you can often find original jackets here. 407-21, Seokyo-dong
Mapo-gu 02-6082-6110
For
Gals:
THE SHOE ROOM (462-9073/ 323-6264)-
The interior of this shop has a funki-fied colonial
Asia look and is very bright and colorful. The shop’s
main designer is a budding young talent. You can see
the loving craftsmanship put into the shoes. This shop
also sells funky clothes and accessories for women.
Getting
to and around Hongdae: Hongdae shopping can
be reached by subway line 2 Hongik University station
exit 6.The street starting from Volkswagen turns into
a street with cars parked in the middle and if you keep
walking straight away from Volkswagen, that street widens
a bit more. There are a lot of great little shops on
this street for punky, boho, arsty and vintage clothes.
The little alley just behind Volkswagen is particularly
worth a look. There are quite a few funky little boutiques
for gal’s cutting edge fashion.
EWHA
WOMEN'S UNIVERSITY
This
area is worth a mention but we cannot recommend all
the specific shops as there are dozens of cool small
boutiques. This shopping area is being upgraded and
as of Nov 2005, the streets are being repaved and new
trees are being planted. The area in front of the main
entrance to the university and has a big main street
where you can find chain stores like Star Market and
Codes Combine. On this main street there are also excellent
tailor shops which custom make and remake all kinds
of clothes. The little alleyways which branch off from
the big main street holds alot of hidden treasure. Uber
hip shops like Sugar and Show
me the Money have originals, designer runoffs
and vintage gear. It's a good place to shop if you tire
of Tongdaemun, Itaewon and MyongDong. Take line number
2 to Ewha Women's University or tell the taxi to take
you to 'Idae' (ee-day).
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