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.

KEYTH, a Seoul K-beauty brand founded in 2023, builds its perfume, skincare and makeup around colour, wit and bold typography. Inside the brand.

Five Korean books in English translation, from Lee Heejoo's Holy Boy to science fiction, cosy magical realism and stories adapted for Netflix.

Jeong by Hyo Jung Lee (Phaidon) maps 3,000 years of Korean craft and design through 175 objects, from moon jars and woven baskets to contemporary furniture.

Gentle Monster's 2026 Bouquet Collection launched with a campaign film co-directed by FKA twigs and Jordan Hemingway and floral pop-ups in six cities.

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.

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."