2023 Jung-gu Urban Industry Festa Held

2023 Urban Industry Festa Held at Dongdaemun Design Plaza on 10-11th: Exhibition, Promotion, and Experience Spaces for Fashion, Printing, and Lighting Industries to Revitalize Urban Industry... Jung-gu Supports Traditional Urban Industries with Latest Trends, Technology, and Market Expansion

Jung-gu, Seoul (Mayor Kim Gil-seong) will hold the ‘2023 Urban Industry Festa’ on the 10th and 11th at the Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) Eoullim Square.

Jung-gu organizes an annual festival to revitalize representative urban industries such as sewing, printing, and lighting, which are concentrated in Sindang-dong, Chungmuro, and Euljiro areas. The festival provides a venue to exhibit and sell products and share the latest information among small business owners.

The festival symbolizes the Fashion (sewing), Printing, and Lighting industries with their unique colors. Urban industries have taken root in Jung-gu for over 50 years, maintaining all process systems from production to distribution within the region. Recently, these urban industries have incorporated the latest technologies to offer diverse attractions to consumers, such as small-batch production tailored to various customer preferences and demands.

The opening event of the 2023 Urban Industry Festa will be held on the 10th at 6:30 PM, featuring the ‘Urban Runway’ fashion show. Following a pre-show performance and a business agreement signing between Jung-gu Office and the Korea Fashion Designers Federation, the fashion show and concert will present a celebratory stage. The fashion show will be hosted by Myung Yoo-seok, CEO of Mill Studio, and Jang Kwang-hyo, Korea’s first male fashion designer.

‘Urban Studio’ is a space that introduces urban industries to visitors and offers hands-on experiences. Visitors can enjoy the charm of each industry through generative AI-based fashion sewing experiences, advanced printing equipment demonstrations, and exhibitions of Euljiro lighting artworks.

More than 30 companies will set up promotional booths to share excellent technologies and services at the ‘Urban Industry Public Fair’ and ‘Trend Market.’ In particular, to help visitors understand, sample pattern production will be demonstrated on-site. Advanced equipment used for sample production will be introduced, and the pattern-making and processing will be shown.

The ‘Networking Conference’ provides an opportunity to learn business know-how from experts in various fields and resolve questions. The fashion lecture will feature a talk on ‘Stylist’s K-Fashion Trends and Coordination Methods.’ The independent author book talk will allow participants to discuss books with independent publishing authors and learn how to publish books through independent publishing.

About 30 works, including eco-bags, calendars, and postcards created by participants in the printing industry revitalization support project (We Make GOODS in Junggu) operated by Jung-gu Office in the second half of this year, will be unveiled for the first time during the event. Books produced through independent publishing will be exhibited and sold, and a reading space for tourists will be created in the central yard of Eoullim Square in collaboration with the local independent bookstore, Spain Bookstore.

Courses such as neon sign lighting making, upcycling sewing classes, and bookmark making for the general public will also be held. Some programs require prior registration.

Visitors can also leave memories at a photo zone using lighting and large-scale prints. Various events will offer Trend Market discount coupons and goods as giveaways.

Detailed event schedules can be found on the Jung-gu Office website and the Jung-gu Urban Industry Festa Instagram.

The 2023 Urban Industry Festa is hosted by Jung-gu, Seoul, and supported by Seoul Metropolitan Government, Woori Bank, Interpro Print, Moorim Paper, Hansol Paper, Dongguk University Campus Town, Korea Federation of Textile Industries, Korea Fashion Designers Association, Seoul Printing Information Industry Cooperative, Jung-gu Sewing Organization Council, and Korea Lighting Distribution Association.

Mayor Kim Gil-seong of Jung-gu said, "I hope this event will raise awareness of Jung-gu’s urban industries and breathe new life into them," adding, "We will continue to actively support small business owners to produce products by incorporating the latest trends and technologies and to pioneer new markets."