It’s official, Seoul is the capital of ultimate experiential shopping. Well, for the Gen Z and Millennial demographics, that is. We’re talking the recently inaugurated third outpost of fwee in the city’s fast-emerging Yeonnam area. A spin-off of South Korean beauty brand numbuzin, fwee targets a highly trend-conscious, young clientele, and unsurprisingly, the interior design blatantly reflects this. The store occupies a redeveloped two-storey modern structure, and features a fitting design by local consulting and branding agency xsxl, which additionally, also takes cues from the surrounding neighbourhood. The fwee retail spaces are concepted as a so-called agit, or ‘hideout’ in plain English, and it’s one which effortlessly stands out from its surroundings.
A striking rounded volume in bright blue as been added to the top of the building, featuring the fwee name and tying in with a grand staircase, which leads to the main entrance, and balustrade in the same hue. Needless to say, it’s a carefully considered entrance which not only overcomes a spatial constraint, but also reflects fwee’s keen understanding of social media-driven design. The ground floor sees a product testing zone and photo zone, designed to maximise functionality despite the low ceilings and narrow footprint. The space is divided into two zones, white and blue, to establish a sense of rhythm and visual balance. Captured by sleek vertical furniture elements, the white zone oozes linearity and lightness. In contrast, the other zone features a setting with monolithic furnishings and glossy tiles which incite a sense of spaciousness. To further open up the space visually, a mirrored Barrisol ceiling was installed.
One floor up, an entirely different aesthetic manifests. Here, quite similar to the roof construction, soft and rounded motifs are applied, captured by two differently styled spaces. One space is the Pink Room, designed to launch the brand’s new Pocket Series makeup collection. Furnishings comprise a display cabinet, wall-mounted shelving, and a tiered metal shelving unit, all dipped in a pink hue and laden with coveted fwee merchandise. The new fwee stores comprises a sequence of immersive spaces with a strong brand narrative and highly photogenic aesthetic which easily entices shoppers to engage with the brand, and consequently, spread the word online. The new fwee store carries the brand’s full range of cosmetics. © superfuture
fwee
95 World Cup buk-ro 4-gil (Yeonnam)
03993 Seoul
Telephone +82 70 86704107
Daily 11am-9pm
Publishers Note
Just to be clear – superfuture® is a design blog and not a political commentator. No surprise there. The scope of our content has always been global and borderless, however that can often mean covering projects in countries where we will not agree with the politics or actions of those countries. In a world that’s as screwed up as ever right now, the focus of our support is to those designers, architects and other creatives who aim to make the world a more liveable one – as opposed to people that try their hardest to destroy it. So if a project hits our desk and we like it based on its design credentials, we may choose to publish regardless of its location or creators nationality. superfuture® has always been inclusive and hopes for all current wars, aggression, violence, hate and extremism to end.
