Italian Design Day in Korea

The Italian Embassy in Seoul is hosting an online fifth edition of Italian Design Day on Wednesday and Thursday.

Italian Design Day aims to share well-known Italian expertise to create connections, links and synergies within the design worlds of selected countries.

According to the Italian Embassy in Seoul, topics such as beauty, fashion, “Made in Italy” and, above all, innovation are particularly relevant to Korea.

Innovation is the keyword of this year‘s Design Day. Avant-garde projects and state-of-the-art materials allow for the creation of trendy and chic objects while tackling contemporary challenges, like sustainability and environmental protection.

Italian Design Day 2021 will have a well-known design ambassador coming to Korea: Giulio Cappellini.

Giulio Cappellini has written the history of Italian and world design and is currently promoting long-lasting beautiful industrial design with a reduced environmental impact.

The Italian architect will talk about his commitment in the field of design and will participate in a live discussion with outstanding Korean celebrities in the design sector.

The Italian Embassy said that the Italy-Korea relationship in the design sector is a phenomenon underway as demonstrated by the import data of Italian furniture in Korea because this sector has experienced growth that shows Korea’s interest in Italian style. From the beginning of 2020 to the first half of 2021, imports in Korea of Italian furniture grew by almost 50 percent, despite the COVID-19 slowdown.

Italy is South Korea’s third leading supplier of furniture after China and Vietnam, and its leading European supplier.

The embassy added that Seoul is also one of the 10 most dynamic markets in the world for world imports of furniture and the second in East Asia, and it shows a high demand for this type of product by one of the most influential countries in Asia for design, style and innovation. Korea’s soft power in the cultural sector is well-renowned.

The Embassy of Italy in Seoul, the Italian Cultural Institute and the Italian Trade Agency will welcome the live participation of selected guests linked to the design community as part of the event, who will follow the events on social media and interact personally with speakers.

By Sanjay Kumar (sanjaykumar@heraldcorp.com)