LOEWE PERFUMES OPENS NEW STORE IN SEOUL
LOEWE Perfumes has opened its first standalone store, and its first location in Seoul, South Korea, in the design-led Seongsu-dong neighbourhood of the city. The 344 sqm space, split across two floors with a central garden, rooftop terrace and café, presents a full offering of fragrance including the Crafted Collection, the Botanical Rainbow and Un Paseo por Madrid, alongside Home Scents and Bath lines.
Drawing on the botanical elements that root the collections, LOEWE Perfumes Seongsu combines the intimacy of a collector’s home with the aesthetic of a meticulously-crafted botanist’s archive, and blends a Spanish sensibility with references to Korean design. The façade is clad in handcrafted ceramic tiles in teal blue, their irregular glazing and slight cavities creating shifting colours and light reflections. The ceramics extend into the interior in contrasting shades of emerald, lime green and turquoise, providing a colourful and reflective backdrop.
A central garden, visible from all the rooms on the ground floor, draws on the layout of a traditional Korean home. The greenery of the patio is dominated by a central pine tree combined with ceramic pots that reflect Spanish heritage. Inside, expanses of concrete contrast with curved counters topped in green marble, picking out the colours of the ceramic walls. A central curved staircase continues the sinuous design mood. A dedicated cleansing area allows customers to experience the skin-nourishing rituals of LOEWE Perfume’s Bath line at a green marble sink.
Furniture including George Nakashima’s Mira chairs, Gerrit Thomas Rietveld’s Utrecht armchairs and Isamu Noguchi’s Akari E floor lamps, bring warmth and colour to the space, along with ARE-02 chairs in beech by the Korean design house, Studio ha. Signature LOEWE designs further showcase craft and materiality; a Re-Crafted coffee table, constructed using surplus leather from LOEWE’s ateliers, celebrates the beauty of repurposed materials. Underfoot, bespoke rugs woven in Spain, reproduce the vivid and bucolic tapestry, Rowsley Clump, by British textile designer John Allen.
Over both floors, art, craft and design from LOEWE’s growing collection of international art, is displayed. Highlights include a site-specific knitted pendant by the Korean artist Kwango Lee, that extends through the double height space. While a moonjar, a traditional vase by Korean artist Mun Pyung (b. 1975), and a watercolour drawing by the Northern Irish painter William McKeown (1962 – 2011), provide more contemplative moments within the serene space.