Dongdaemun Is Korea’s Fashion Center

On August 18 at 9:00 p.m. near Dongdaemun Stadium in Seoul, brilliant lights and ear-splitting music combined with thousands of people gathered in a massive crowd.

The domestic and international tourists that stroll among the 100 some vendors that have set up market along a 150-meter semi-circle around Dongdaemun Stadium add to the confusion, making it difficult even to walk. The department-store-style shopping mall U:US, that opened on August 14 is the cause of the commotion. U:US is the fourth mega wholesale shopping mall that opened in the Dongdaemun Shopping Town this year alone.

The evolution of Dongdaemun Shopping Mall -

Korea’s representative traditional market, Dongdaemun Shopping Mall, is transforming into a fashion industry base with modern complex shopping malls clustered together.

On a weekday, the scenery of Dongdaemun Shopping Town makes you think of an apartment construction site. High-rise construction tower cranes are moving busily here and there, building extra-large shopping malls such as Fashion TV (2,088 shops) and Goodmorning City (4,000 shops).

According to the Seoul Business Agency, the number of shops in Dongdaemun Shopping Town is approximately 31,200. The number is expected to rise by over seven thousand by the end of 2007 to a total of over 38,500.

U:US is the first shopping mall in the Dongdaemun area to build a 1,600-pyeong auditorium for the purpose of holding fashion shows year-round. The president of this company, Hong Jong-chan, said, “We spent about 50 percent more than typical shopping malls for building costs and interior design.”

Some are concerned that the continuing construction of new shopping malls may lead to over supply.

For the shopping malls in this area, including some that opened this year, the ratio of empty shops to the number of shops available is close to the 50 percent line, and the deposit and monthly rent prices are dropping.

However, most experts say, “This is a process of the market naturally taking care of the modernization of distribution facilities.” Their opinion is that the limits of repairing and remodeling existing shopping malls in order to meet the requirements of customers for a pleasant shopping environment led to the reconstruction of existing facilities or building of new ones.

One-stop fashion, from planning to shopping -

The government and the city of Seoul are also making an effort to make Dongdaemun into an industrial base to lead the future of Korean fashion.

The Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy, the Ministry of Labor, and Korea Industrial Complex Corporation are working together to create a sewing cluster in the old city parking lot site. The government is planning on linking nearby shopping malls with this cluster in order to make a base for everything: planning, design, sewing, and marketing.

On September 21, the Seoul Fashion Design Center is planning on moving into the Dongdaemun Fashion Culture Hall behind Dongdaemun Stadium. A fashion show commemorating this event will be held on September 21 and 22.

The Design Center was fully financed by the city of Seoul and opened in 2000. Its function is to support the export of Dongdaemun clothing companies and attracting overseas buyers.

The Daegu Gyeongbuk Federation of Textile Industries is said to be planning a Textile Marketing Center (TMC) within the Dongdaemun trading area to link district manufacturing companies and Dongdaemun market to enliven the industry and obtain basic materials for establishing their marketing strategy.

A market for Chinese products?-

The future of Dongdaemun Shopping Town is not all glitter and gold.

Chief Goh Dong-chul of Dongdaemun Market Information Center pointed out, “At the current rate, Dongdaemun Shopping Town could become a Chinese clothing market.”

As the merchants of Dongdaemun Shopping Town focus more and more on importing cheap Chinese products rather than developing high-quality products, the original function of Dongdaemun as a clothing manufacturing base is fading.

Some view the government’s plan to change Dongdaemun into a fashion industry base critically, saying it is haphazard. There are insufficient lodging establishments and transportation facilities for foreigners, but the government has no plans to supplement these.

Professor Kim Ho-cheol of the Real Estate Department at Dankook University says, “Most of the new fashion malls are department-store-style wholesale/retailers. There is a limit to what they can do to help Dongdaemun become an advance base for the fashion industry.”