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Hannam-dong, the tony neighborhood next to Itaewon in central Seoul, has emerged as the new shopping mecca. Over the last five years it has attracted trendy eateries, fashion stores and beauty brand shops.
Originally home to foreign embassies and expensive houses, Hannam-dong first attracted cultural centers, restaurants and cafés, which in turn brought in trendy crowds followed 스포츠토토사이트스포츠토토사이트 by luxury fashion and beauty brand stores.
Now Gucci will open its second flagship store here in Hannam-dong next to the Imperial Palace Hotel just across the street from Cheil Worldwide’s headquarters. The half-kilometer strip from Cheil Worldwide to Hangangjin subway station is lined on both sides with shops, restaurants, galleries and performance venues appealing to affluent millennials.
Tucked into the adjacent alleys are more trendy restaurants where young people queue for tables at weekends.
The Leeum Samsung Museum of Art opened there in 2004, followed by Blue Square in 2011 showcasing musicals. That led to cafés opening in the neighborhood catering to musical audiences before and after shows. At about the same time, the Pace Gallery, a showcase for contemporary and modern American art, opened along with a handful of other exhibition spaces.
Gentrification also brought high-end apartment complexes. That sets Hannam-dong apart from the Cheongdam-dong ghetto of luxury boutiques just across the Han River. Hannam-dong’s art and cultural scene attracts more than just shoppers and appeals to people in their 20s and 30s. One worker in a café near Hangangjin subway station said, “A lot of artists and fashion industry workers come here, and most of them are in their early 30s.”
The brands and types of restaurants in Hannam-dong are distinctly different too. Beaker, an apparel shop selling a mixture of trendy fashion brands, features creations by both foreign luxury houses and new Korean designers. Rather than being lined with traditional luxury shops like Hermès, Louis Vuitton and Chanel, Hannam-dong’s brands include Maison Kitsuné, Comme des Garçons, Le Labo and Jo Malone.
When San Francisco-based Tartine Bakery opened in Korea, it chose Hannam-dong first because of its appeal to young Koreans.
Gucci has often served as a marker of terminal gentrification. That’s what happened when Gucci opened its first flagship shop in Cheongdam-dong in 1998. One fashion industry insider said, “Gucci probably chose to open its next flagship store in Hannam-dong in order to appeal to the younger crowd. But the landscape of Hannam-dong’s fashion street will change once Gucci opens there.”
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