[르포] Transformation of Seongsu-dong Handmade Shoes Street… to fashion and living streets of MZ generation enthusiasts

Input 2021.03.09 06:30

Between the factory building made of red brick, the automobile industry with slate finish, and the custom shoe shop with old signboards, there are a café that exhibits art installations and paintings, and an editing shop that brings together foreign furniture brands.

Pedestrians also have different ages and purposes. A delivery motorcycle passes next to a group of college students in their twenties looking for a way while looking at a smartphone, and a young couple holding hands and looking at the shops behind the one-ton truck loaded with materials, walks.

The area around Seongsu-dong, Seongdong-gu, Seoul, visited on the 7th was in the process of transformation again. Seongsu-dong’s new face, named after’Handmade Painting Street’, as’Cafe Street’, is furniture, interior accessories, and fashion.

In the 5km radius of Seongsu Station on Seoul Subway Line 2, it became famous for the handmade shoe street where 300 handmade shoe factories and 200 subsidiary material sellers were concentrated in the early and mid-2010s. Since it is an industrial area in terms of use area, development was restricted except for the knowledge industry center (old apartment-type factory), and for this reason, old buildings such as industrial history, clothing factory, and shoe workshop could remain intact.

From the exterior of the building, time seems to have stopped around the 1980s and 1990s, but if you look inside, there are many places that have been stylishly decorated with small plants and small items such as lamps. The red-brick building and wood-finished warehouse transformed into a café displaying art works, and between auto parts dealerships and leather stores, Danish luxury lighting brand’Louis Poulsen’ opened a separate store.

In addition to the harsh atmosphere of the industrial zone, franchise stores are rare. Recently, shops with unique design concepts are gathering in Seongsu-dong. Although it is not a super-high-end brand that might be located in Cheongdam-dong or Garosu-gil in Sinsa-dong, it is thanks to the recognition that it is an area that goes well with fashion and furniture brands that have gained popularity due to their unique design.

‘Tiltable’, a planter (a compound word for plants and interiors) that fills the space with gardening supplies, plants, and design pots,’Editing Shop Towood’ that collects and sells furniture from various brands, and’Samuel Smalls’ that sells designer furniture. ‘These are stores that get word of mouth through social media.

Rather, this disharmony is perceived as the charm of Seongsu-dong by young people. For the MZ generation (millennials born in the 1980s and Z generations born after the mid-1990s), exposed concrete walls, bricks, and unpainted wooden doors are also gaining popularity as a’retro interior’ or’emotional interior’.

In front of’Ather Space 2.0′ at the end of the cafe street, about a dozen people were waiting in line even on weekday afternoons. It is a flagship store (store that maximizes the brand image) opened in Seongsu-dong in July of last year by Korean fashion brand’Arthur Error’, established in 2014. On the second floor, there is also a store selling interior art props.

Kim Hee-yeon, a graduate student in his twenties, said, “I came to meet my boyfriend’s holiday because it was rumored to be a peculiar and pretty store in social media.” “He said.

Large distribution companies are also paying attention to Seongsu-dong. AMOREPACIFIC opens’Amore Seongsu’, which combines Osulloc Tea House and cosmetics experience space, and is using it as a space to showcase new brands and products.

An IKEA Lab store, which IKEA operates temporarily until April, has also been set up in Seongsu-dong. It consists of a food lab that sells drinks and desserts sold at IKEA stores, a showroom (exhibition hall), and a small store.

An IKEA official said, “When considering the opening of a store, we consider the various characteristics of the region, but as it is an experimental’Lab’ store that introduces IKEA for a limited time, we have chosen a place that many consumers can visit in the city center.” We considered that Seongsu-dong is attracting attention as the latest trending commercial district among young people,” he said.

However, the handmade shoes street, the number one contributor that formed the commercial district in Seongsu-dong, was a quiet atmosphere. Occasionally, only pedestrians and vehicles passing through the streets with rapid steps were noticeable.

Jeon Tae-soo, CEO of JS Handmade Shoes, who has been running a handmade shoe shop in this street for 7 years, said, “Before the Corona, because of the new cafes, furniture stores, and entertainment agency that moved to this town, the number of young visitors increased enough to be crowded every weekend, but (shoe stores) sales “It did not lead to,” he said. “Young people wear sneakers rather than shoes, and they don’t even wear shoes in Seongsu-dong.” He added, “Rather, the rent of the store rises quickly as this neighborhood opens, and the atmosphere where factories and warehouses are closed and left,” he added.