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Byredo’s first store in Korea will open in the heart of Seoul’s dynamic and fashionable Dosan Park. This will be the brand’s fifth international opening, following Stockholm, New York, London and Paris.

Gangnam Style

The new flagship store is located at 12 Dosan-daero in Gangnam-gu. This area is one of the 25 local government districts which make up the city of Seoul, South Korea. Gangnam literally means “South of the River”. Both the Greater Gangnam Area and Gangnam itself are widely known for its heavily concentrated wealth and very high standard of living, which has been compared to cities such as Beverly Hills, California.

Byredo New Store, Beautiful as Usual

The stand-alone building has been designed by Byredo’s founder Ben Gorham and Swedish architectural and design studio Halleroed. Both companies have already collaborated on two other stores: London and New York. Halleroed’s work is well known and each project requires a lot of research about the brand, its objectives but also the location and the environment in which the store will be located.

I’m doing a lot of research for every project and brand and think a lot of what every specific project “is in need of”. Then I work with the visualization of it and also a lot with the details.” – Christian Halleröd

The facade consists of black bricks featuring traditional masonry detailing.
The bricks have become a recurring element at Byredo, representing the meticulous work of building a brand that will stand the test of time. The placement of repetitive windows stresses the interior’s focus on natural light which in turn forms a palette of natural tones contrasting with black and white detailing. Materials such as aluminium, Italian terrazzo, Nordic walnut and Alderwood all contribute to creating a refined experience, both familiar and new. A rock garden placed alongside the building’s exterior consisted of bonsai pine trees and grass reflects the store’s living and ever-changing nature.

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Byredo Dosan Park will house the brand’s multiple categories within leather goods, fragrance, home and accessories along with a selection of unique objects curated specifically for the store. Each Byredo store is different as it matches the spirit of the location. Nevertheless, there are common values shared across locations about authenticity, essentiality and a very important focus on highly qualitative details.

Seoul is the Leading Fashion Capital of Asia

Byredo retail development strategy is very interesting as they choose the best cities and the best locations at the heart of trends. Opening a store in South Korea shows two main important points: First, Byredo has a strong ambition to become a global brand and second, it tackles a very important market, often trend-setter in the region.

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Currently, Seoul is considered as the most trendy, influential city in all Asia. After K-Pop, came K-beauty and now we get K-Fashion. Very soon, Seoul will be considered as the leading fashion capital. One interesting indicator is the global success of the Seoul Fashion Week. Since its inception back in 2015, the fashion event became very popular in the country and captures hundreds of journalists and fashion professionals at every edition. Several fashion buyers for well-renowned department stores come to Seoul during fashion week in order to source new brands with a strong international appealing, Therefore there is a huge appetite for this city which makes the right choice for Byredo to install its new flagship store.

Byredo Launch Party: Happy People For A Happy Time

Every Byredo store opening event becomes a local major happening. Lead by Ben Gorham network of friends and friends of the brand, generally, the Byredo event becomes a happy place to be at. We still remember the London and Paris store openings. There were more happy faces and celebrities at the London and Paris openings than in many official fashion weeks post-show events. So PR and Events are driving forces for the brand.

In Seoul, the opening event was a blast. The brand and Ben Gorham made a very elegant and friendly gathering that brought many happy faces to the party. From top models like Kim Sung Hee, Kang So Young, IRENE, to singers like BOA and Beenjino or even actors like Hong Jong Hyun or Kang Seung Hyun…. it was a great success that will mark people’s mind.

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Byredo is spreading the beauty of the brand to the world and the launch of this new flagship store in Seoul is anchoring the brand in a solid platform to all Asia. The brand’s ambition is to translate memories and emotions into products and experiences. 
Byredo is reinventing the world of luxury through a new approach, where creation is led by emotions, expressing a full and limitless brand universe. 
It conceives objects using the highest quality materials available, and high-end design details to fuel a renewed approach to modern luxury. 

José Amorim
Information sourced by the author for luxuryactivist.com. All content is copyrighted with no reproduction rights available. Images are for illustration purposes only.