Region
Itaewon is the intercultural center of Seoul and the most exotic place in the city for who wants to go out, shop and dine. Stretching over 1.4 km of streets (from Itaewon 1-dong to Hannam 2-dong), Itaewon is the meeting place of choice for locals and foreigners who came to settle in South Korea. It is also often the first place tourists visit when they travel to South Korea.
Itaewon is a true shopping maze: the place harbors around 2,400 shops spreading over dozens of streets with their own atmosphere. However, the three main streets of this neighborhood revolve around food (World Food Culture Street), fashion (Fashion Street) and antiques (Antique Furniture Street).
Itaewon Antique Furniture Street was formed back in the 1960s when American soldiers based in Yongsan sold their furniture before returning to the United States. Over the years, the place became a hub for the sale of furniture from the around the world. Famous at the time, this street still is today, especially since the vintage trend literally exploded in Korea. In addition to furniture, shops located in the Itaewon Antique Furniture Street, sell a broad selection of vintage items ranging from old wall clocks, posters, vintage toys, carousel horses & cars, crockery and all kinds of decorative objects which are hard to find elsewhere.
In addition to their day to day operations, antique dealers in the Itaewon Antique Furniture Street, host twice a year a little fair. The Itaewon Antique & Vintage Festival is a flea market organized generally in May and October, by 80 local antique dealers.
Reda Gallagher
15th September 2015 at 07:06Walked around the antique street today. The positives are that it is in a spacious area unlike most antique markets across the world. This was started when the Europeans were selling their furniture etc when they left the country so if you are looking for Asian antiques this is not the place for you. And if you have been to Europe this will seem overpriced. Also the shop owners do not want to share the history of the piece so it’s quite disappointing. Note that the market is closed on Sundays
Adelle Kozlowski
30th September 2015 at 09:41This area is purely European antique style. Did not see a single Korean antique shop. Why would I come to Seoul to buy that? Seemed pretty odd to me.
Dean Hendrix
24th November 2015 at 14:53Don’t go if looking for Asian antiques. The street is filled with antique shops but mainly “western” (US and British) items from families of nearby US military bases. No Korean or Chinese antiques.
Dalton Li
10th January 2016 at 13:11I liked the long street full of nice antique pieces. Yes, antiques are pricey. But I believe it is worth it. I wish I have the courage to buy and have one shipped back home, but I don’t have a place for anymore additional furniture.