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'People of Tastes' alights on Garosugil
Creative boutique offers breakthroughs for young Korean fashion designers
If you have no taste, go find some here. “I think we’re at a turning point in Korean fashion,” says Mi-Sun Song, the owner and creative mind behind the boutique/café/exhibition space People of Tastes. “Nobody knows what’s going to happen in the next five years.”
The Hongdae branch of People of Tastes has been setting the standard for cool in shopping north of the river, and the new Garosu branch sets itself apart from other Apgujeong shops by promoting young, up-and-coming designers from Korea and abroad.
Song acts as an agent, buyer, and seller for these little-known, but directional brands, nurturing emerging talent and charting a new course for Korean fashion.
People of Tastes is one of the only beacons of hope for young breakout fashion talent from Korea.
Defined by extremes -- with high-end luxury shopping at department stores like Hyundai and Shinsegae at one end, and cheap, designer knock-offs in Dongdaemun and Hongdae on the other, the Korean fashion world often leaves little room for new, creative talent to break through.
People of Tastes' second permanent location on Garosu tries to fill this void, acting as a showroom during Seoul Fashion Week, before transitioning into a fully fledged store this November. They also had a traveling pop-up store that has made stops in Busan and Gwangju.
“I see the shop as an incubator,” says Song. “It’s fun to see a designer’s first collection and nurture them.”
Sharp eye
Let's hope their good taste applies to their coffee as well.
Song showed her know-how when she represented a slate of hand-picked Korean and international brands at Rendez-vous, an industry trade show during Paris Fashion Week and successfully convinced major buyers like Opening Ceremony based in New York, the British online giant ASOS, and the Japanese department store Isetan to pick up some of her designers.
“We go around buying brand, so I thought why not use that skill to sell Korean brands to foreign shops?” says Song.
Emerging names
Men, this is what you should be wearing.
The Korean brands sold at People of Tastes include Flat Apartment, a label that specializes in shoes and bags, including flat shoes that reinterpret the boseon, Korean footwear that is traditionally worn with a hanbok, and J. JS Lee, a sleek, minimalist label that has already been recognized by the British Fashion Council as part of its emerging talent showcase NEWGEN and by the Samsung Fashion and Design Fund.
At the Hongdae store, Song has introduced many designers with whom most Koreans (and, let’s face it, most people) are unfamiliar, including Berlin-based label So Popular, workwear-inspired denim by Spellbound, and leather goods from Ally Capellino, among others.
On the more avant-garde side, Unbounded Awe, a label designed by Ku Won-Jung, an alumna of Central St. Martin’s and the London College of Fashion in Britain is one of those brands of fashion derring-do. Ku came back to Seoul to start her own label that she says is a space of “unlimited imagination.” Her style is bold and unapologetic and fills her collections with pieced sweatshirts and suits in bold stripes and bright plays on geometry and form.
Famous last words
“I just want to create a place for people who love fashion, and who aren’t afraid to wear what they like,” says Song.
While she doesn’t believe in dispensing fashion bromides, she has this to say, “You’re a fashion victim if you don’t wear what you want because you’re afraid of what other people think.”
Then she adds, “And don’t be afraid of color!”
The Hongdae branch.
People of Tastes
Hongdae store
Seogyo-dong, Mapo-gu (서교동 마포구 105 339-1) 105 339-1 ; 82 02 335 4259; 1 p.m.-11 p.m.
Garosu store
2/F Sinsa-dong, Gangnam-gu 533-14 (강남구 신사동 533-14 2층 202), +82 02 515 4258; 11 a.m.-9 p.m.
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