8Seconds ♥ Korea 2012 fashion brand~ Gangnam location grand opening!

 

 Are you looking for a good place to shop in Gangnam?

This past weekend the newest location of the Korean Brand  8 Seconds (aka 8ight seconds, 8seconds, or 에잇세컨즈 ) opened its doors at last with crowds lining up!  I figured this would be a perfect time to not only share some photos of its newest (and I think nicest) location yet, but introduce the brand to you guys as a whole!

 

Company’s statement is  “Cheaper than Zara, trendier than Uniqlo” which fits the brand exactly.

So what kind of brand is 8seconds?  Well,  larger shops like Zara, Uniqlo, H&M, and Forever 21 (called SPA Brands which mean specialty retailer of private-label apparel)  have been extremely popular here in Korea because they offer a huge selection of clothing at reasonable prices, range of colors, and stay pretty up to date with the latest styles or basis!

Some of the other larger companies here in Korea like LG, Hyndai, etc have launched brands and stores here with success, so Feb 2012 the textile and chemical giant Cheil Industries (affiliate of Samsung and owner of other successful domestic brands such as Bean Pole) took a shot at the growing demand for foreign one stop high fashion SPA shops by making their own!

They set out to take the aspects that worked from all the successful SPA brands that are imported into Korea, lower prices, and since it is a true Korean brand by Koreans the style and pieces will appeal to what the market here wants in fashion a lot better.

If you are a regular shopper you may get the feeling of dejavu several times while walking around. Some areas for 8seconds are clearly inspired by other brands or stores, but I guess that is the appeal…its familiar..  For example, the new undergarment section at the Gangnam location is a copy of the popular Victoria’s Secret pink line and display tables.  Other areas feel like walls from Uniqlo or Zara, I believe they are taking what people want and making it better + cramming it all under one building for you.  We do not have Victoria’s Secret here in Korea, so I for one was super happy that I could buy cute cotton panties again~ even if they are ripping off another brand.  That’s the fashion industry for you though, so oh well!

8seconds first store opened on Feb. 23rd in the trendy Garosugil ~ this new Gangnam location I visited last weekend is its 8th location!  Not bad for the first year, huh?

8seconds locations always throw in a bit of organic elements in the building~ Koreans love that.

The new 8seconds carries everything on three large floors~  basics, undergarments, outerwear, high fashion pieces, jeans, accessories, plus has a large amount if unisex pieces for guys or girls as well as a dedicated guys section.  This Gangnam location is my favorite location so far, it is so nice and big and seemed to have a lot more interesting pieces stocked in it vs some of the other shop spots like at Dcube City Mall

Overall the brand is costs a bit more than forever 21, but less than some of the other SPA brands here like Zara which is crazy expensive in Korea for some reason.  I found it very similar to H&M in price and quality, everything was fairly reasonable and the construction seemed solid for what I paid.

The selection feels a bit like H&M, it has a nice mix of plain things plus a few cool or extra fun gems thrown in~ things rage from a few won to almost 80,000… nothing seems to get extremely expensive here (unless it is a leather or fur item which they do stock a few of) but it is not completely cheap either.

I personally like 8secounds a lot!  I am a big fan of SPA shops in general though since they have such a selection that I can usually find what I need since I like to wear different things vs the norm sometimes~ 8secounds is just a Korean version of those shops, so if you are into Korean fashion you should enjoy it as well.

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Another plus is most items here are S,M,L,XL vs the ever present OS Free Size in Korea~  so if you are not a single size shopper you can have access to a lot more fun items now!

This is a store I always want to walk through when I see it, and usually leave with one item I am happy with every time.

I was SO INSANELY excited to see those neon school bags!!  I kept seeing neon bags by cambridge satchel over this year, but when I finally found one in the stores the price was over 200,000 won which I could not bring myself to pay since the only draw for me was its color.

8Seconds sells its version of the bag for around 45,000 won~ I bought the pink on the spot and will be going back for the orange-pink smaller style soon…. I cant help myself lol. I hope they make more, I will buy one in every color if I’m allowed *_*

lots of crazy felt accessories out right now, is this an international thing or Korea thing?  We loved the texture and color, but I just could not see myself wearing them~  Nara was tempted to buy the bracelet for himself though.

I dont recall seeing this at the other locations, but the Gangnam store has a special side buisness set up that sells silk accessories!  If you wish to buy you have to take a slip up to the counter and bring it back to get your item, so don’t walk off with anything too quickly if you stop by.  They had headbands, pins, hair clips, rings, and more~ all with really fun and colorful patterns so each piece was a bit unique.  I fond a beautiful heart ring with silk fabric that I nabbed!

They had all the legging, tight, and sock colors that you could ever need!! It can be hard to find bright colors for clothing here, so I was very happy to see this wall :D

Croc Crossbody bag~ 29,900 원

men’s section had lots of great shirts and jackets in a range of sizes! Nara had bigger arms here since most of the guys are really lean, so he was very happy to have some jacket options in actual sizes again. Also note thin the man clutch bags~ those are still quite popular with the guys here.

The men’s section was a bit plain color-wise this season, but had lots of stylish pieces to pic from in a range of prices.  Shirts, jeans, suits, bags, etc~!  If you are a guy and like things a little more colorful just look around for the unisex clothing (sometimes it is in the girls section) we found a lot of great pieces that Nara wanted in that area!

They had lots of winter gear out with crazy neon colors… I like it!

Playful neon button sets in the men’s section to decorate your bag or jacket

They also had a very large section for soaps, lotions, etc.  The colors looked very pretty, but they are SUPER FLOWER PERFUME-TASTIC ugh.  I find almost all Korean beauty products overly scented with awful perfumes. Blah~ why cant they make something softer or a sweet fruity one?

8seconds seems to always have a little free gift or giveaway going on~ like most Korean brands here haha!  Today they had a special that if you spent over 50,000 won you could take your receipt outside and pick out a cute neon squishy bag!  I spent over 100,000 so I got two, muhahaha HOARD FREE GIFTS! I need to start giving some of this stuff way as prizes though… running out of room here!

Milk really liked the new bag!  When I go to Nara’s house I carry him in a bag, so this may be his new warm snow-proof one for the winter when I go outside.

 Aside from the bonus gift bag, everyone that bought something from the store receved a special gift regardless of what you spent~ this awesome artist print canvas wallet!  Its kinda like Poketo in its simplicity I think~ I really like it!  Nara used his right away because it makes a GREAT skinny wallet for your jean pocket, however I already have a wallet so I did not need mine….

I would love to give my extra (still in plastic wrap) canvas wallet from 8seconds to one of my lovely readers as a gift!

If you would like to win this wallet simply comment below saying “I would like to win the wallet” and let me know what MUST item you would buy in Korea if you came to go shopping??

I will pick a winner next week on 10/5/2012 and e-mail them, so make sure you have your proper E-mail listed when you comment

♥ ♥ ♥ CONTEST IS CURRENTLY ACTIVE ♥ ♥ ♥

HAUL

Curious to see the goodies I picked up??  Well I did not go too crazy since what I grabbed was not super cheap, but I did find a few treasures I could not leave behind ♥

As you can see, I am still really into the Neon Trend going on here in Seoul~ even though it has died down a bit on the street for now haha.

I am so excited to use this amazing pink school bag ♥ ♥

Silk button ring from the mini store they had within 8seconds~! Nice bit of pop!

Electric orange sherbet tights!!   The shoes are by Japanese designer Aperire B

I have to say, I am extremely happy with the quality of the tights so far!  They are very opaque, have a nice thickness which I will appreciate a lot when Fall rolls around proper, and come in both single piece and footless versions!  These set me back 8,000 won and are well worth the price considering how many choices you have + the thickness! Tights are one size, but I find them to be a bit more forgiving vs the OS tights sold on the street. I gained 8lb this summer (ugh noooo~)  so while my other tights from here are a little snug on me atm, these feel perfect.

A lot of the Men’s jackets on display had a few of these cute knitted flowers pinned on for an extra splash of color.  I think they are so sweet + Nara has been really into pinning things on his blazers this year so I bought a few for him…. I kind of want to go buy more for myself.  I love little pins like this~ they make everything you clip them on even more interesting!

I feel like a K-pop cupcake!!  Also, I wanted to wear some fun blue tights with this (bought them at Target a while back) and you can see how they are a bit thin VS the orange ones I just bought…. looks like I will be going back to 8seconds to get some more colors haha. I think I will visit my awesome alteration shop across the street and have them stitch the sleeves up with maybe a cool button or something to hold it in place? hummm

Again, love this neon satchel!!!!  49,000 won is SO much better than 200,000 won~  I hope they make more colors!  Cambridge satchel did a pastel set this year that I have also been longing for~ don’t let me down 8seconds!

Directions to 8Seconds Gangnam Location

8Seconds  에잇세컨즈 Gangnam Location

서울특별시 서초구 서초동

Hours: 11am-10pm

The newest location for 8seconds is super easy to get to, and hard to miss since the building shape is quite unique + glows rainbow at night!!

The way I prefer is via the Seoul Metro Green Line #2  and get off at Gangnam Station. Find Exit #9 and you can just walk past the wooden steps of people waiting~ straight down the street a few yards till you hit the building on your right, piece of cake!  You can also opt to take Exit #10 which will put you right along the side of the building!

Do you like the Korean brand 8seconds? Have you been to the new location yet?  Find anything you loved or had to buy? Share below!

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