Samsung opens flagship store of fashion brand Beaker in trendy Seongsu-dong

Samsung has joined Korea’s fashion hub Seongsu-dong, located in Seongdong District, eastern Seoul. Beaker, an online contemporary boutique fashion brand under Samsung C&T’s fashion division, opened its third flagship store last Friday, marking...

The new Beaker flagship store in Seongsu-dong, eastern Seoul [BEAKER]

Samsung has joined Korea’s fashion hub Seongsu-dong, located in Seongdong District, eastern Seoul.

Beaker, an online contemporary boutique fashion brand under Samsung C&T’s fashion division, opened its third flagship store last Friday, marking its grand entrance into the area. The other two shops are located in Hannam-dong in central Seoul’s Yongsan District and Cheongdam-dong in southern Seoul’s Gangnam District, after the brand opened in 2012.

Interior items created by artist Lee Kwang-ho, which include shelves, hangers and a table [BEAKER]

The first floor of the three-story building houses clothing, accessories and interior items. The second and third floors present brands according to which gender they appeal better to. Brands like TheOpen Product and Khrisjoy are on the second floor as they are popular among females while Maison Kitsuné, Danton and Sporty&Rich are on the third.

Beaker also collaborated with artist Lee Kwang-ho, who made interior items such as tables, mirrors and benches from metal or vinyl (PVC), which are on view in the building.

“We opened a flagship store in Seongsu-dong as many local and overseas brands have continuously been eyeing the district,” said Song Tae-geun, the head of the Beaker team.

The inside of the new Beaker flagship store in Seongsu-dong, eastern Seoul [BEAKER]

In recent years Seongsu-dong has surged in popularity as an area where fashion brands show off their items offline. Musinsa, a large local fashion e-commerce site, relocated its headquarters early last month, moving nearby to its other office spaces that have already nestled into Seongsu-dong.

Other brands that are not under Samsung C&T, like Dior, have built flagships stores in the area as well, which comes as a surprise considering that other luxury fashion houses like Chanel or Gucci are mostly located in Cheongdam-dong in Gangnam District.

Still, even if their roots remain in southern Seoul, Chanel and Gucci have held temporary pop-up stores in Seongsu-dong, which garnered popularity on social media.

Interior items created by artist Lee Kwang-ho [BEAKER]

According to a survey by the Korea Broadcast Advertising Corporation last month, 81 percent of 2,000 respondents replied that they would like to visit offline stores for fashion shopping platforms. This explains why more and more online e-commerce brands are actively launching flagship or pop-up stores.

Why they are choosing Seongsu-dong, however, is because the area is deemed to be especially trendy.

“If Cheongdam-dong was established as a region whose identity was based on luxury brands, nowadays brands are seeking Seongsu-dong to create a younger and hip image,” Kim Jae-won, director of Atelier Écriture, a design planning company, previously told the JoongAng Ilbo, an affiliate of the Korea JoongAng Daily.

“They’re not here just to sell clothes; they are utilizing their building spaces to include cafes or exhibitions to emphasize the experimental aspects, therefore heightening the brand’s value.”

BY SHIN MIN-HEE [shin.minhee@joongang.co.kr]