Seoul: Dongdaemun Design Plaza

Dongdaemun Design Plaza, with its smooth futuristic and alien-like surfaces, had been on my must-see list ever since I found out that Seoul Fashion Week was held there. It’s just too bad that we arrived one month too early. In any case, I had fun pretending otherwise.

My pink Viparo leather jacket is the highlight of my outfit again amongst all the muted blues, blacks and greens. I wore it slightly differently this time, fastening one of the snap buttons from one side to the other. I just love how many looks I could create with it! Going back to hot & humid Singapore has been a sad affair ever since I had to store my jacket away.

We wandered about the island separating the fashion streets, discovering the underground Dongdaemun History & Culture Park. The contrast between sleek modernity and rustic stones were surprising, as if one step brought us back in time. No surprises when we took more pictures there. It was pretty fun because no one was around to make me feel all self-conscious about prancing about.

What I looked like most of the day.

Ottie and I exchanged our jackets during the day because his long coat was heavy on his shoulders. I for one welcomed the extra warmth it provided – who knew that draping it across my shoulders would warm up my arms more than actually wearing it? To think that I only wanted to look cool.

Me and Ottie at one of the cuter sculptures in between the plaza and park. It’s a mobile in the shape of a retro-looking camera. I’ll assume that the DDP on it stood for Dongdaemun Design Plaza.

The inside of Dongdaemun Design Plaza felt like a maze to me. It housed a number of traveling art exhibitions, one of which we chanced upon being Audrey Hepburn: Beauty Beyond Beauty. It was a little weird to see write-ups in Korean for an English-speaking celebrity:

A retail space was set aside in the underground area. It was super cool how they had installed a cutesy interactive installation along the walls! Too bad the calibration was off – Ottie and I tried to do what the videos suggested but our actions never seemed to be in the proper position:

One of the more interesting stores was Red Eye, a space which promoted independent artists. I had a bittersweet moment browsing through the quirky items as by then, we’d already maxed out our luggage space (in fact we nearly destroyed one suitcase trying to squeeze too many stuff in).

I sorely wish I’d purchased these cuties!

OUTFIT
Pink leather jacket c/o Viparo
Men’s grey winter coat Vintage
Men’s peacoat from H&M
Merino wool sweater from H&M
Chiffon dress from H&M
Striped tights from Nordstrom
Sneakers from McQ x Puma c/o Shopbop

Outfit photos taken by Ottie.