I walked through Garosugil last November, and I counted. Fourteen pairs of Ugg boots in under twenty minutes. Not an exaggeration. Seven of those were the chunky platform models, and the rest were the original Classic Minis. That ratio alone tells you something about where Korean fashion is headed with this brand. How Ugg Became […]
My most expensive impulse purchase last year was a 490,000 KRW piece of wool. It is pink, it is oversized, and I wear it literally every day from November to March. I am talking about the Acne Studios Canada scarf, and apparently half of Seoul made the same impulsive decision I did. Why This Particular
A 29-year-old designer from Seoul has somehow convinced an entire generation that a wallet costing under 100,000 KRW is cooler than anything Louis Vuitton makes. Her name is Kim Matin, and the brand she built, Matin Kim, has become one of the most interesting success stories in Korean fashion over the past three years. The
I need to confess something: I own five Emis caps. Five. In different colors. And I am not even someone who wears hats regularly. But something about this brand makes you come back for more, and apparently I am not alone, because Emis has quietly become the single most visible cap brand on Korean celebrity
I spent three consecutive Saturdays wandering around Seongsu-dong last month, and honestly, each visit felt like stepping into a completely different neighborhood. A pop-up that was there on week one had vanished by week three, replaced by something entirely new. That rotating energy is exactly what makes this district Seoul’s most addictive shopping destination right
A friend of mine from Canada visited Seoul last winter and kept pointing at people’s jackets on the subway. “Why does everyone have the same style jacket but in different colors?” she asked. I realized she was looking at gwazam (과잠), and explaining it opened up this entire rabbit hole of Korean university culture that
I was sitting in a cafe in Hannam-dong last week, and I counted seven Mardi Mercredi flower logo sweatshirts within a 30-minute window. Seven. In one cafe. That’s either a testament to the brand’s enduring popularity or evidence that it’s become so ubiquitous that it’s lost its edge. Depending on who you ask in Seoul’s
My roommate walked into our apartment last spring wearing leg warmers over her jeans and ribbon-tied ballet flats, and my first instinct was to ask if she’d just come from a dance class. She gave me a look that could wilt flowers. “It’s balletcore,” she said, as if I’d just asked what the internet was.
A couple of years ago, I watched a guy walk into a Garosu-gil cafe wearing a full Arc’teryx Beta LT shell, Salomon XT-6 sneakers, and slim black trousers. He looked like he was about to summit Bukhansan, except he was ordering an oat milk latte. That was probably the moment I realized gorpcore had fully
I first noticed it at a Seongsu-dong brunch spot back in early 2025. Three separate tables had women carrying silver bags. Not similar bags, not even the same brand, but all in that unmistakable metallic silver finish. Fast forward to now, and the silver bag has become one of the most persistent accessories trends I
