Luxury brand bags have become practically commonplace in fashion-conscious Seoul—to really stand out (and support small businesses), check out the growing scene of small, local designers with limited runs, like Leacre. The owner studied design in Milan before coming back to Seoul and launching her line of lovely leather bags with a showroom in the Gyeongnidan hills. The owner sources her leather from Italy and bases her designs on the concept of minimalist form with individuality: Most bags in her collection are composed of slim, layered pouches in a variety of colors that can be rearranged at will. In addition to bags, the Leacre showroom also features a glass case of jewelry from Thai designer SATADA, who works primarily with pearls.
“Heidenei is a German saying that means ‘oops,’ or ‘oh my goodness.’ We both studied
in Berlin for years before coming here and we just liked the city so much, it inspired us to make the brand name in German. We didn’t want our product to be complete on its own, but rather, something fun and adjustable depending on the owner’s style. We wanted some wit in it, you know?”
Velcro was the inspiration for the project. Utilizing velcro not only as the secondary
material, but as the foundation for creating backpacks and clutches, HEIDENEI! allows
people to customize their products by affixing different wappen patches (decorative fabric designs attachable to clothes or hats) to them.
Bae Min-young, who studied fashion design in Berlin, and Kim Jae-bin, former jewelry designer, teamed up to launch their own fashion brand. About a year ago, the duo started the Velcro iT project via crowdfunding and developed it into becoming one of the brands to attend this year’s SEEK (a contemporary fashion trade show) during Berlin Fashion Week. HEIDENEI!’s strongest point is its versatility that is made possible with the patches, making each bag one of a kind.
By Lee Dong-mi
Studio HEIDENEI.
3, Shinheung-ro 15 gil, Yongsangu (www.heidenei.kr, 010-9391-7650).