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

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.

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."