In October, French luxury house Hermès opened its first store in South Korea’s Pangyo, known as the advanced technology hub in the Asian nation.
Located in the Pangyo Hyundai department store, the new Hermès outlet was designed by Parisian architecture agency RDAI and mixes contemporary architectural hints of Hermès with local South-Korean culture and craftsmanship.
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Wide windows, giving light to their seasonal collections, are flanked by walls blanketed in ceramic motifs. The interior’s lively colour palette takes its cues from the celestial love story in “Chilseok”, a traditional Korean festival, and reappears throughout the store; from the textile kakemonos veiled over the store’s glass front, to bespoke furnishings.
Equally, Parisian architectural signatures are also featured, including Grecques lighting, signature ex-libris and the bespoke hand-laid mosaic which frames the entrance, alongside artisanal touches, such as hand-painted walls in the main salon. Cherrywood and champagne-coloured ‘Ott-chil’ lacquered cabinetry further add warmth and structure to the store.
As for product offering, the ground-floor entrance welcomes customers into an open space, where the silk collection is housed. A showcase of the jewellery, perfumes, and beauty items are on the left of the store, and to the right, the home and equestrian collections can be found.
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To inaugurate the store, Hermès also commissioned Korean artist Jae-Eun Choi, who’s work combines sculpture and architecture, to create the window displays. For this project, Choi decided to embody the house’s theme of the year “Lighthearted!” and imagined a glass bridge connecting the two windows located on either side of the entrance.
The Pangyo store opening comes on the back of Hermès store opening in Ho Chi Minh City’s Union Square, in late September.