Yurt Studio • 유르트 스튜디오

“ 'YURT' comes from the idea where designer's sensibility meets craftsmanship authentically within nature and life style. Based on the idea of human beings belong to the nature. We only use organic materials and vegetable leather to maximize its quality.” — YURT STUDIO

Yurt Studio (유르트 스튜디오) is a handmade leather workshop run by a husband-and-wife design team. Located in Hannam-dong (한남동), Yurt Studio crafts limited-edition leather shoes and bags, including its signature pastry-shaped clutch, the Croissant Bag. Their studio workshop currently serves as a cafe as well where people can come and browse around the store, as well as see what’s going on around the workshop. By combining the two spaces, Yurt Studio wishes to show people the home of someone who loves leather craftsmanship.

In an interview with Samsung Newsroom, Kim Yong-min, who runs Yurt Studio, says, "We wanted to create a space where we can better show our thoughts about the leather we pursue." To do this, he chose the current Yurt Studio with a new yard to move to, and he said, "We have also added a Yurt Cafe so that more people can come in." This new nest was transformed into a living space for Yurt and a perfect workplace.

I visited Yurt Studio with my cousin and Soo Zee on one spring day. Greeted by the spacious lawn when you walk in, coming to Yurt Studio definitely feels like you’re visiting the home of a friend. There is outdoor seating area around the lawn where you can sit under the shade. The building itself has two floors and a rooftop area. The first floor is where the Yurt Cafe, Yurt Workshop, and display areas are. The second floor has more seating area as well as display areas for the leather products sold in store. The rooftop is pretty spacious as well, but as the afternoon sun was pretty hot, we decided to just sit in the lawn area on the first floor after ordering our drinks from the Yurt Cafe. Come here and check out their handmade leather products or enjoy drinks from their cafe and play with Hato, their black french bulldog ;)

Update: As of 10 August 2019, Yurt Studio has moved to a new location.

Yurt Studio • 유르트 스튜디오

Address: 서울특별시 용산구 한남동 641-6
Telephone: 02-3444-7064

Website: Yurt Studio
Instagram: @yurt_official

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Mmm Records • 음레코드

I visited Mmm Records (음레코드) last spring with Ken and my cousin during one of our outings in Seoul. Ken was actually the one who wanted to check out this place and we just tagged along since we never been to this place either. Mmm Records sells vintage LPs, 7-inch records, as well as old school cassette tapes. The store is decorated with vintage furnitures as well as turntables and boomboxes that are for sale. The walls are plastered with black and white typography posters with musicians lyrics and names. Mmm Records also hosts record fairs, DJ events and even DJ lessons if you are interested in learning how to DJ.

On top of selling all these vintage analog music, they also have a cafe/bar section in the store. You can order food, like Poutine and Banhmi Sandwiches, or if you just want to chill and order some drinks, they have a good selections of beer, wine, cocktails, and non-alcoholic options. They have seatings spread out around the two floors inside the building and they have a rooftop area as well that is pretty cozy to hang out at when the weather is nice. We actually ended up hanging out at the rooftop for a bit after checking out the store, ordered our drinks and brought them upstairs. The rooftop has a view of Namsan, Seoul Tower and all the small houses that made up the neighborhood around the area. Since the area is pretty quite, watching the view with the sunset in the background was really nice. If you’re into vintage LPs and vinyls, this place is definitely worth a visit. If not, you can always just hang out and enjoy the view from their rooftop with your friends.

Mmm Records • 음레코드

Address: 울특별시 용산구 한남동 620-152
Telephone: 070-4001-0625
Hours: 15:00-24:00 (Weekdays) | 12:00-24:00 (Weekends)

Instagram: @mmmrecords

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