Lotte Department Store Wins Three iF Design Awards 2026, Proving Global Design Competitiveness

Two Awards in Branding, One in Interior?A Record High for the Year
Expanding Customer Experience Strategy
Proving Competitiveness on the Global Stage

Lotte Department Store has demonstrated its global design competitiveness by winning three grand prizes at the iF Design Award 2026.

The iF Design Award, which began in 1953, is the world’s oldest and most prestigious design competition. Alongside the United States’ IDEA and Germany’s Red Dot Design Award, it is considered one of the world’s top three design awards. Winners are selected through a comprehensive evaluation of design ideas, form, function, differentiation, and sustainability.

Lotte Premium Outlet 'VIP Lounge,' winner of the main prize in the Interior Architecture category at the 2026 iF Design Award. Lotte Department Store

This year, Lotte Department Store set a new record for the highest number of awards in a single year by winning a total of three grand prizes: two in the Branding & Communication category and one in the Interior Architecture category.

In the Branding & Communication Design category, the department store’s kids-only IP, “Kinder Universe,” received the grand prize. Launched in 2024, “Kinder Universe” is based on the concept of “unexpected encounters” and is characterized by graphics reminiscent of cut-and-paste colored paper and a handwritten-style logo. This design philosophy was applied to the renewal of the kids’ sections at the main and Incheon branches, creating a distinct and differentiated space.

In the Interior Architecture category, the “VIP Lounge” at Lotte Premium Outlet was awarded. The VIP Lounge was designed with inspiration from the symbolic space “Wahlheim” in Goethe’s novel “The Sorrows of Young Werther,” and strengthens the spatial experience by organically connecting the “reception,” reminiscent of a mansion, with a “terrace lounge” that uses natural light. This concept was first applied to the Paju branch in 2024.

Additionally, the “webpage” of the next-generation shopping mall Time Villas won the grand prize at the iF Design Award this year, following its Red Dot Design Award win last year. Time Villas has been recognized for its branding philosophy-“a space where a new time begins”-which has been faithfully translated into the online realm, demonstrating branding competitiveness both online and offline.

Ji-Young Park, Head of Design at Lotte Department Store, stated, “We received positive evaluations because we expanded design beyond visual elements to encompass the entire customer experience,” adding, “We will continue to pursue design innovation that provides differentiated experiences in the future.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.