Seongsu-dong, neighborhood east of the Seoul city center dubbed as the ‘Brooklyn of Seoul,’ is fast gaining ground as a new fashion hub in South Korea where premium brands, designer studios and various select shops are flocking to lure young trendy people in their 20s and 30s.

According to Samsung C&T on Tuesday, as many as 8,000 visited the flagship store of its fashion brand Beaker in Seongu-dong, Seoul in just three days since its opening last Friday. This means daily visitors to the store amount to an average 2,600.

The Seongsu district, once famous for handmade leather shoes with small factories, has been transformed into a fashion mecca for young Koreans with artists and creatives bringing trendy cafes, restaurants and fashion brand stores to the area.

In May, French luxury fashion house Christian Dior opened its flagship store in Seongsu-dong, suggesting that the trendy, hip neighborhood meets all the conditions as a fashion hub - master craftsmen who create shoes, bags and other fashion goods, designers who started opening studios there, and materials distributors.

Samsung C&T also decided to open its flagship store in Seongsu-dong with an aim to explore fashion brands that appeal to young generations for long, said a company official.

Various fashion companies started joining the new fashion hub to enjoy the benefit. The country’s major online fashion platform Musinsa moved its headquarters to Seongsu from Apgujeong in affluent Gangnam district. Eyeware brand Gentle Monster is soon to relocate its office to there.

About 10 fashion and beauty brands have so far settled in Seongsu including Adererror, customellow, Aesop and Le Labo.

By Kim Gyu-sik and Lee Ha-yeon

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]