Near Hongik University Station in Seoul, a shop in one alley greets visitors with rough iron shelving and heavy khaki army tent canvas; a few steps away, a basement store in another alley plays footage from the early 2000s on a silver digital TV; nearby, another shop stuffs British aristocratic hunting tweed jackets and waxed cotton coats into old wooden cabinets—these "time travel" vintage stores are no longer confined to bustling commercial districts such as Hongdae in Seoul. Mullae-dong's ironworks alleys in Yeongdeungpo District are clustered with workwear and military surplus stores, Euljiro's printing alleys have small shops selling everyday clothing imported from Japan and the US in the 1980s and 1990s; vintage stores are also beginning to appear around Hwaseong Fortress Road in Haenggung-dong, Suwon, in Daegu's modern-era alleys, and in the railway officials' housing village in Sotteok-dong, Dong-gu, Daejeon.

Numbers confirm the trend. According to commercial district information statistics from the Korea Small Enterprise and Market Service, stores with "vintage," "guje" (old clothes), or "vintage" in their names grew from 1,439 at the end of June 2021 to 2,126 at the end of June this year, a 47.7% increase over five years; over the same period, clothing retailers other than vintage stores (men's wear, women's wear, infant and children's wear, and other clothing retail, four categories in total) instead fell 13.2%. The gap in new openings is even larger: among stores currently operating, vintage shops opened in the past five years account for 58.7%, versus 27.0% for general clothing retailers—more than double.

Consumers' motivations for buying are not singular. In a survey last year by Embrain Trendmonitor of 1,000 people aged 13 to 59 nationwide in South Korea, among the 780 who said they had bought secondhand clothing, the top reason was "cheap price" (56.7%). In addition, many people tired of uniform fast fashion turn to vintage in search of personal style. A 24-year-old Kim met at a vintage store in Hongdae said: "I used to think of them as old clothes; now I think clothes with unique personality are vintage." Many young people also come for the music, lighting, and old-alley atmosphere of a particular era; a 23-year-old Han said: "Every store has different products and different interior decor, so browsing is fun." Some consumers also say that for discontinued clothing lines, "the only place to get them is vintage stores."

Song Eun-young, a professor in the Department of Fashion Industry at Digital Seoul Culture and Arts University, analyzes that the recent growth of vintage and secondhand clothing is no longer just about buying used clothes cheaply, but is closely tied to consumption changes among people in their 20s and 30s who value individuality, scarcity, reasonable prices, and value consumption; it results from a combination of factors including Y2K and retro trends, the culture of self-expression through social media, and attention to sustainable fashion that extends the life of clothing. She also notes that with social media and online platforms, stores can start without a large physical location, lowering the initial capital burden.

Growth also has structural weaknesses. Most vintage stores follow the "no returns, no exchanges" convention; reporters visited more than 30 vintage shops in the Mapo District area, all of which stated no returns or exchanges. Some consumers say that while it is acceptable that flaws are hard to spot due to the nature of vintage clothing, some stores cannot filter out counterfeit goods, which makes them hesitate.

The industry's focus is on market maturity and room for expansion. One vintage store operator said that more and more stores are no longer simply circulating old clothes but have professional curation and authentication capabilities, and that "like Japan, which has a mature secondary circulation ecosystem, Korea's vintage market is also in the early stage of forming its own culture and industry."

Key points

  • Stores in South Korea with "vintage/old clothes/vintage" in their names grew from 1,439 at the end of June 2021 to 2,126 at the end of June this year, up 47.7% in five years, while other clothing retailers fell 13.2% over the same period.
  • Share of currently operating stores opened in the past five years: vintage shops 58.7%, general clothing retailers 27.0%.
  • Among 780 people with secondhand clothing purchase experience, 56.7% cited "cheap price" as the top reason for buying; the more than 30 vintage stores visited by reporters in Mapo District all offer no returns or exchanges.

Source: A time machine opening in every worn-down alley… vintage spreading nationwide · Originally published 2026-10-13