Yurt Studio • 유르트 스튜디오

“ 'YURT' comes from the idea where designer's sensibility meets craftsmanship authentically within nature and life style. Based on the idea of human beings belong to the nature. We only use organic materials and vegetable leather to maximize its quality.” — YURT STUDIO

Yurt Studio (유르트 스튜디오) is a handmade leather workshop run by a husband-and-wife design team. Located in Hannam-dong (한남동), Yurt Studio crafts limited-edition leather shoes and bags, including its signature pastry-shaped clutch, the Croissant Bag. Their studio workshop currently serves as a cafe as well where people can come and browse around the store, as well as see what’s going on around the workshop. By combining the two spaces, Yurt Studio wishes to show people the home of someone who loves leather craftsmanship.

In an interview with Samsung Newsroom, Kim Yong-min, who runs Yurt Studio, says, "We wanted to create a space where we can better show our thoughts about the leather we pursue." To do this, he chose the current Yurt Studio with a new yard to move to, and he said, "We have also added a Yurt Cafe so that more people can come in." This new nest was transformed into a living space for Yurt and a perfect workplace.

I visited Yurt Studio with my cousin and Soo Zee on one spring day. Greeted by the spacious lawn when you walk in, coming to Yurt Studio definitely feels like you’re visiting the home of a friend. There is outdoor seating area around the lawn where you can sit under the shade. The building itself has two floors and a rooftop area. The first floor is where the Yurt Cafe, Yurt Workshop, and display areas are. The second floor has more seating area as well as display areas for the leather products sold in store. The rooftop is pretty spacious as well, but as the afternoon sun was pretty hot, we decided to just sit in the lawn area on the first floor after ordering our drinks from the Yurt Cafe. Come here and check out their handmade leather products or enjoy drinks from their cafe and play with Hato, their black french bulldog ;)

Update: As of 10 August 2019, Yurt Studio has moved to a new location.

Yurt Studio • 유르트 스튜디오

Address: 서울특별시 용산구 한남동 641-6
Telephone: 02-3444-7064

Website: Yurt Studio
Instagram: @yurt_official

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I Hate Monday • 아이헤이트먼데이

If you have visited enough shops that sells local brands in Seoul, you’ll probably notice this one socks brand that keeps making appearances over and over again in different stores and locations. I Hate Monday (아이헤이트먼데이) is a popular Korean socks brand that was started with the main goal is to beat the Monday Blues.

The founder of the brand, sock designer Hong Jung Mi started this business because she used to hate going back to work on Monday after the weekend. "When you think of going to work on Monday, you often start to get nervous from Sunday evening onwards. So I decided to make something fun, creative and unique to help make people feel a bit more comfortable on their way to work," she said on an interview with The Chosunilbo. This sentiment clearly resonates with a lot of people since after started selling her socks on a vending machine in Sinsa-dong, it became really really popular and the business has only became a bigger and more popular until these days.

The brand has now expanded their socks line as well as working with other brands for collaboration projects. Their latest collaboration project includes working together with Innocean Worldwide to make braille socks for visually impaired (read the article here).

When I visited the store, I ended up talking with the person who was manning the store for a bit and she did told me about the story of her boss quitting her corporate job to start this brand because she really hated Mondays. Now that she owns this successful brand, I don’t think she hates Monday as much as she used to ;)

I Hate Monday • 아이헤이트먼데이

Address: 서울특별시 마포구 합정동 363-30
Telephone: 070-4028-1867
Hours: 11:30 - 19:00 (Weekdays. Lunch Break: 12:30 - 14:00) | 13:00 - 18:00 (Saturdays) | Closed on Sundays.

Website: I Hate Monday
Instagram: @ihatemondaysocks

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Mmm Records • 음레코드

I visited Mmm Records (음레코드) last spring with Ken and my cousin during one of our outings in Seoul. Ken was actually the one who wanted to check out this place and we just tagged along since we never been to this place either. Mmm Records sells vintage LPs, 7-inch records, as well as old school cassette tapes. The store is decorated with vintage furnitures as well as turntables and boomboxes that are for sale. The walls are plastered with black and white typography posters with musicians lyrics and names. Mmm Records also hosts record fairs, DJ events and even DJ lessons if you are interested in learning how to DJ.

On top of selling all these vintage analog music, they also have a cafe/bar section in the store. You can order food, like Poutine and Banhmi Sandwiches, or if you just want to chill and order some drinks, they have a good selections of beer, wine, cocktails, and non-alcoholic options. They have seatings spread out around the two floors inside the building and they have a rooftop area as well that is pretty cozy to hang out at when the weather is nice. We actually ended up hanging out at the rooftop for a bit after checking out the store, ordered our drinks and brought them upstairs. The rooftop has a view of Namsan, Seoul Tower and all the small houses that made up the neighborhood around the area. Since the area is pretty quite, watching the view with the sunset in the background was really nice. If you’re into vintage LPs and vinyls, this place is definitely worth a visit. If not, you can always just hang out and enjoy the view from their rooftop with your friends.

Mmm Records • 음레코드

Address: 울특별시 용산구 한남동 620-152
Telephone: 070-4001-0625
Hours: 15:00-24:00 (Weekdays) | 12:00-24:00 (Weekends)

Instagram: @mmmrecords

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Art Platz • 사는게꽃같네 아트플라츠

Art Platz (사는게꽃같네 아트플라츠) is a small store located in Yeonnam-dong (연남동) neighborhood that sells a number of different local products and arts & crafts. The neon decorated exterior was what attracted me to see what’s inside this place and sure enough there were a lot of interesting pieces to see inside the small store.

Later, I also found out that turns out, this place has been making appearance in a couple of popular Korean dramas including Your House Helper (당신의 하우스헬퍼), Jealousy Incarnate (질투의 화신), and Individualist Ms. Ji-young (개인주의자 지영씨). Anybody watched one of these drama? Does this spot look familiar? Let me know!

Art Platz • 사는게꽃같네 아트플라츠

Address: 서울특별시 마포구 연남동 257-5
Hours: 12:00 - 19:00 (Closed on Mondays)

Instagram: @artplatz.co.kr

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Saie Book • 사이에

Saie (사이에) bookshop is well-known for their well-curated travel books, both for domestic as well as international travel. They have plenty of selections for you to choose from and the store also have a small cafe where you can order drinks from if you decide to read your books there. I browsed through the store and came across many interesting covers. The only thing I that I could think about was I wish my Korean reading skill is better so I could actually read all these books.

Although this place is probably more suitable for locals who are looking for travel books for their next holiday ideas, it’s still interesting to check out the space and their book selections when you’re around the neighborhood.

Saie Book • 사이에

Address: 서울특별시 마포구 연남동 223-44 2층
Telephone: 070-8630-5630
Hours: 10:00 - 21:00 (Weekdays) | 13:00 - 21:00 (Saturday) | Closed on Sundays

Website: Saie Book

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