ST Dupont is a Parisian luxury accessories retailer and you could be forgiven for not having heard of it, as it has managed to maintain a resolutely low profile this side of the Channel.
In keeping with other upscale merchants, however, it has taken the view that a major part of its potential future lies around 6,000 miles to the east of the French capital.
The outcome in Seoul is a 1,600 sq ft flagship. Designed by consultancy Four IV, this is not a huge store but it certainly impresses and, in spite of its relatively modest size, the space has been divided into a series of open-sided rooms through a deft use of screens, overhead baffles and strategically positioned pieces of mid-shop equipment.
At the heart of the store is a circular area, demarcated by a series of curving shelving units and backed by a large floor-to-ceiling screen.
The latter plays the Euro-heritage card with pictures of Kate and Wills, Her Majesty and, curiously, Nicolas Sarkozy (perhaps the change hasn’t been noted in this part of the world), among others. It is a measure of the enthusiasm for branded European goods that such distinctions probably don’t matter, however, and ST Dupont seems wise to this.
There is a slickness about the interior execution in this store that you’d expect of any luxury brand. That said, there is sufficient individuality about what has been done here to make this worthy of inspection, rather than consigning it to the serried ranks of the luxury stores that seem to loom at every turn in the land of kimchi and Gangnam Style rap.
The store opened late last year.
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