London retail designer Sonia Brown photographs Seoul's boldest stores in Seongsu, Hannam, Sinsa and Bukchon, and explains what makes the city's retail design brave.
“There is a real kind of bravery around Seoul, and I absolutely fell in love with it,” she says.
"It felt so different from their UK shops - it was welcoming, not intimidating as many high-end shops can be," she says. She feels that in Seoul, barriers are being broken down through the staff.
"People we met in Korea were more hosts than sales assistants, and there was a sense of hospitality and welcoming," she remembers.
Superbrands come to Seoul to test. It's completely unlike Europe and the UK, which are very restrictive. In Seoul, you can anything.
"A brand can come to Seoul and do whatever they want; there is a kind of artistic licence to do anything," Sonia says. "Something that doesn't exist elsewhere."
Seoul Cult: an English-language magazine on Seoul's culture, design and lifestyle
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Downloadable digital edition of Seoul Cult Issue 02 2026. 105 pages, colour.
LATEST ISSUE
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From the Latest Issue
Songzio SS27 at Paris Fashion Week: the Korean label's Impavide collection, walked by ATEEZ's Seonghwa, reworks hanbok details into sculptural tailoring.
Newmix reinvents Korean mix coffee, a 1970s salon and office staple, as a Seoul souvenir. Inside its shop in Anguk, near Bukchon, and the story behind the brand.
Bukchon Morning Rave: every second Saturday at 8 am, DJ MINJI plays a hanok basement in Seoul, with free coffee, tteokbokki and K-beauty brand Kahi.
Korea's dopamine sites, like the fake Baemin app Only the Food Doesn't Come, let users order, pay and track a delivery that never arrives. Why young Koreans use them.
KEYTH, a Seoul K-beauty brand founded in 2023, builds its perfume, skincare and makeup around colour, wit and bold typography. Inside the brand.
Talk To Me In Korean founder Sun Hyunwoo on building a Korean-learning platform with 2 million YouTube subscribers, 1,700+ lessons and 50 books.
Survival items for summer in Seoul: rain shoes, sun umbrellas and other essentials for the city's hot, humid jangma season, curated by Seoul Cult.
Polish food journalist Małgorzata Minta eats her way through Seoul, from Michelin-starred Onjium by Gyeongbokgung Palace to Korean barbecue and fermented foods.
Seoul Cult Issue 02 editor's letter: how jangma, Korea's rainy season, changes Seoul's clothes, food and ways of getting around.
Four Korean series and documentaries on Netflix now, including BTS: The Return and We Are All Trying Here, the JTBC drama by My Mister writer Park Haeyoung.
Gojong, Korea's first and last emperor, drank coffee and ate cold noodles through sleepless nights. A history of naengmyeon and Korea's first likely lifestyle disease.
Five Korean books in English translation, from Lee Heejoo's Holy Boy to science fiction, cosy magical realism and stories adapted for Netflix.
AMOR EX MACHINA at Seoul Museum of Art Seosomun: 60 works by 17 Nanji Residency artists, including Dew Kim, on love and myth in the AI age.
The Memorymaker, a hotel and pool on Homyeong Mountain near Gapyeong, one hour from Seoul, is laid out like a Korean mountain temple. A summer escape from the city.
Sections
BRANDS
Songzio SS27 at Paris Fashion Week: the Korean label's Impavide collection, walked by ATEEZ's Seonghwa, reworks hanbok details into sculptural tailoring.
DESIGN
Newmix reinvents Korean mix coffee, a 1970s salon and office staple, as a Seoul souvenir. Inside its shop in Anguk, near Bukchon, and the story behind the brand.
ART & LITERATURE
Five Korean books in English translation, from Lee Heejoo's Holy Boy to science fiction, cosy magical realism and stories adapted for Netflix.
SOCIETY
Korea's dopamine sites, like the fake Baemin app Only the Food Doesn't Come, let users order, pay and track a delivery that never arrives. Why young Koreans use them.
TRAVEL
Bukchon Morning Rave: every second Saturday at 8 am, DJ MINJI plays a hanok basement in Seoul, with free coffee, tteokbokki and K-beauty brand Kahi.
K-CONTENT
Four Korean series and documentaries on Netflix now, including BTS: The Return and We Are All Trying Here, the JTBC drama by My Mister writer Park Haeyoung.
SHOPPING
Newmix reinvents Korean mix coffee, a 1970s salon and office staple, as a Seoul souvenir. Inside its shop in Anguk, near Bukchon, and the story behind the brand.
Longer Reads
Korea's dopamine sites, like the fake Baemin app Only the Food Doesn't Come, let users order, pay and track a delivery that never arrives. Why young Koreans use them.
Talk To Me In Korean founder Sun Hyunwoo on building a Korean-learning platform with 2 million YouTube subscribers, 1,700+ lessons and 50 books.
Polish food journalist Małgorzata Minta eats her way through Seoul, from Michelin-starred Onjium by Gyeongbokgung Palace to Korean barbecue and fermented foods.
South Korea's AI Basic Act, in force since January 2026, is the world's first comprehensive national AI law. What it requires, from AI watermarks to local representatives.
Olive Better, CJ Olive Young's wellness store in Gwanghwamun, Seoul, stocks 3,000 products from 500 brands. The piece covers Olive Young's bet on wellness and global expansion.