The world has only just begun to grasp the sophistication of the beauty industry in South Korea a.k.a K-Beauty and the wide range of coveted wellness and health-inspired products it offers. It’s a multi-billion dollar industry marked by sheer innovation and the boom has only just started. Barely known abroad, Dmil is one of the many players in the Korean beauty industry, and it does so as a beauty influencer management and content producer. Having garnered an abundance of knowledge through its online activities, the company decided to venture offline, creating its very first beauty boutique at Lotte World Mall in Seoul. Built in 2014, it’s part of a prestigious complex which also includes the soaring Lotte World Tower, one of the world’s tallest buildings. The store, called dVine, is an extension of the company’s eponymous online domain, and specifically targets a millennial demographic. It occupies a 53 sqm. (571 sq.ft.) unit on floor B1 and features a sleek interior design by Seoul-based architecture practice Plain Oddity.

Spawning from Dmil‘s activities, this is a so-called beauty editing shop, and as such, it has a concept which revolves around five leading Korean beauty influencers: Jella, SangAh Tube, Dear Jerry, Kyurin and Jeyu. The store design comprises of five sections, each one dedicated to an influencer, and incorporates two existing yet customised display columns. It’s all set in a specific configuration to avoid a visual overlap of the five influencers’ images, and sits below the flowingly shaped gazebo of the mall’s On and the Beauty cosmetics floor. The outlines of the dVine store, captured by a swirling carpet and a meandering metal display, add a visual dynamic all its own. The aforementioned beauty squad’s videos are screened on-site, but it’s their collab products with innovative Korean brands such as Dr. Jart+, Luna, Rovectin and Innisfree. The dVine shop is a temporary physical extension of its online domain and will be operational for one year only.

Designed by

Plain Oddity

Images © Plain Oddity

Photography: Yongjoon Choi