PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Textiles & Fashion Tour
A Journet to the Market
Dongdaemun — the Great East Gate — has stood at the eastern edge of Seoul's old walled city for six centuries. The neighbourhoods that grew around the gate tell a more contemporary story: one of sweat, recovery, and industry. In the years after the Korean War, with the country on its knees, needle and thread became one of the first tools of recovery. The rhythm of the sewing machine became the sound that made this part of the city turn.
Starting from the iconic Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP), we make our way through the wholesale fashion district to Dongdaemun Fashion Market — five floors of raw sewing material, from rolls of fabric to ribbons, buttons and thread. From there we follow the motorbikes carrying the fabrics into nearby Changsin-dong, the hilly neighbourhood built just outside the old city wall where the sewing still happens today. Changsin-dong is where I live, where I come home at the end of the day — a place close to my heart.
Few visitors find their way into Changsin-dong. The alleys are narrow, the entrances unmarked, and nothing inside has been arranged with visitors in mind. Which is exactly the point. Past the sewing machines and the delivery riders navigating alleyways, there is a neighbourhood that has been quietly running on its own terms for decades. It does not perform — it simply exists.
Dongdaemun Fashion Market & Jeon Tae-il (전태일)
Seoul's largest garment marketplace and the man who changed it
After crossing through the wholesale fashion district, we step inside Seoul's largest market for sewing materials — floor by floor, stall by stall, the raw material of an entire industry within arm's reach. The overwhelming scale only starts to make sense when you remember that 'made in Korea' once put clothes on the world. Outside the market, on the bridge crossing Cheonggyecheon, stands a statue of Jeon Tae-il. A young garment worker who in 1970 set himself on fire to protest the brutal working conditions in these very streets. His story is still told in the Korea of today — and is worth knowing before we walk any further.
Changsin-dong
The neighbourhood where the sewing happens
The alleys are narrow and the entrances easy to miss — this was never a neighbourhood built with visitors in mind. The neighbourhood has been here long before the war, but it was in the years after that it truly took shape, when people arrived in Seoul with little to their name and built their lives on the hills outside the old city wall. What grew here was unplanned, hardworking, and stubbornly itself. Behind open doors, sewing machines whirr and workers move with purpose. Rolls of fabric lean against doorways while large bundles of finished textile are carried out to be sold in the wholesale markets below. The neighbourhood moves fast, often hurries. We don't — we take our time.
A Small Suggestion
If we're around by lunchtime and you want a unique Korean lunch experience, I am happy to take you to the restaurant where I often have lunch with the neighbourhood workers. We'll eat a baek-ban — the daily set menu, a home-cooked style meal with rice, soup and side dishes. Simple, filling, and as local as it gets. A Single Spark is one of my favourite Korean films — watch it before the tour if you can. A 1995 film about Jeon Tae-il, the young garment worker whose statue we passed on the bridge. It adds a layer to everything we walk through and talk about. Available for free on the Korean Film Archive YouTube channel.
Changsin Stone Quarry
Seeing the alleys, hearing the buzz, from above
In the heart of Changsin-dong, carved into the hillside during Japanese colonial times, lies an unexpected sight. A stone quarry that provided the Japanese with granite to build parts of Seoul. Nowadays the quarry offers a remarkable view over the rooftops of Changsin-dong, the old city wall snaking across the ridge on the other side, and the wider city stretching out beyond. This stop is an absolute reward but it involves a short, very steep climb. For those who would prefer to skip it or for those with physical challenges, we can end the tour at a quieter spot in the neighbourhood below.
A personal note
Changsin-dong is where I live. Not a neighbourhood I discovered on a walk one afternoon — but home. I know the stairways and the shortcuts, the corner where the light is good in the morning, and the alley that smells of frying dough because of the nearby donut stall. My wife grew up here. Her family roots are here and we would not want to be anywhere else in Seoul. In a city this size, Changsin-dong is one of those places most visitors never know exists. The real living happens in places like this — and two hours here will show you why I made this tour. Come curious. We will let the needle and thread tell the story of a nation that pulled itself up, straightened its back, and put on a nice outfit.