Italy-Korea, a virtuous relationship

A theme that is very much felt by design companies. For this sector, the Embassy supported the initiative of ICE High Street Italy, what is it about?

Federico Failla: It is a large showroom in a central area of ​​Seoul entirely dedicated to Italian products from many sectors, a symbol of our country's presence in South Korea.

It is not just a showcase but a place dedicated to events and initiatives that speak of design but also of major contemporary issues such as climate change and low environmental impact.

The goal is to make guests feel immersed in Italianness by sharing projects and visions. The format is unique and has greatly supported the spread of our companies.

High Street Italy, a model that works and could be exported?

Federico Failla: The initial idea was precisely to have more places offering this format around the world. The High Street Italia showroom in Seoul was inaugurated in December 2019: the activities never stopped but were reduced and reorganized respecting the limits imposed by the health emergency. Now we are in the conditions and ready to leave again.

The Italian Design Days are a very important occasion for our design. Are you thinking of making it a permanent system of communication and knowledge of our culture in the world?

Federico Failla: We have been working in this direction for some time. The architect and designer Raffaella Mangiarotti, and the director of INTERNI Gilda Bojardi, joining their voices with well-known Korean panelists: Kim Soo-jeong, Director of the Seoul Museum of Craft Art (SeMoCa), Lee Kyung-don, CEO of the Seoul Design Foundation, Yun Sang-koo, architect and Vice President of The Rotary Foundation and President of the Seoul Spring Chamber Music Festival and architect Maing Pil-soo, Professor at the Hongik University School of Architecture.

The Seoul IDD was followed in June by the event at FuoriSalone, at the Giangiacomo Feltrinelli Foundation, Again, From The Earth's Foundation with the artistic direction of Shinjae Kang.

The Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism of the Republic of Korea, together with KCDF - Korea Craft Design Foundation, wanted to involve three great names in Italian design such as Michele De Lucchi, Mario Trimarchi and Francesco Faccin.

Each with their own approach to design has interpreted Korean aesthetics through works created by three Korean master craftsmen Gangyong Park, Hyungkun Lee and Sungja Hur, known for their care and skill in the use of natural raw materials.

The Embassy of Korea also organized and edited, together with Interni, the talk Italy and Korea. A platform for co-design

Watch the video of the talk here.

This September, we will host an event that combines art and design: we will set up an exhibition in Seoul dedicated to 'I Mirabili', the artwork by Mario Lodola, thanks to the support of the company Formitalia.

What is the vision and role of design in the Embassy's next strategies?

Federico Failla: We are focusing on the design of materials. A theme very transversal to the production sectors, strongly connected to design and which allows us to talk about sustainability and circularity of economic models. Issues that can only make exchanges between Italy and Korea even more interesting and profitable.

I think we need to work on platforms that are able to make the Italian ecosystems dialogue with the Korean ones. By 'ecosystem' I mean a system that combines training, research and production into a single entity.

It is necessary to go beyond the concept of 'join venture', of distribution and sale of products in foreign countries; it is necessary to build common cultural and innovation paths.

Director Calì, although the difficulties due to the pandemic, the export of Italian products to Korea has increased in these two years. The opportunities therefore remain many…

Vincenzo Calì: In Korea there is a good perception of Made in Italy, it is much appreciated. It constitutes an added value compared to the production of other countries. This is a value that is recognized in all supply chains, in particular for the fashion sectors - with particular attention to leather goods and footwear -, for the food and wine sector, for interior design.

ICE Seoul has worked well and in an integrated way on the presence of brands in Korea but also on e-commerce, in particular through the GMarket platform.

Vincenzo Calì: We worked on various levels. Much of my tenure coincided with the health emergency period and so we had to cut down on B2B in-house initiatives, focusing on B2C. We have started various consumer promotion projects and some virtual projects to support the matching between Italian companies and Korean distributors or partners.

In 2021 we created the Italian Pavillion on Gmarket, a section of the market place very famous and much appreciated Korean, which hosts about 60 Italian companies that were not yet present in Korea and that went online with over 700 products in the assortment. This project will be extended for a second year, starting shortly.