The Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) and Seodaemun-gu jointly initiated a project to create a street specialized in fashion on Ewhayeodae 5-gil (street) in October 2016 in order to revive the stagnant alley economy. As a result of the project, 7 youth start-up stores are going to open through lease agreements for the vacant stores. SMG and the autonomous district selected 9 teams of budding young designers and supported their rental deposit, rental fee (one year) and the cost for exterior decoration in order to help them reduce initial cost burden of taking on a long-term of the vacant stores on the street which were pointed out as a problem.

In addition, they designed and installed signboards that expressed the themes of the stores by identifying the characteristics of each store on Ewhayeodae 5-gil. In order to improve the alley environment, they also paved the road using a design that delivers the artistic sensibility of the floor covering materials used in European cities.

To celebrate the rebirth of Ewhayeodae 5-gil as a fashion culture street through the newly designed alley landscape and the opening of the youth start-up stores, SMG and Seodaemun-gu will hold an alley festival until January 20th, 2017.

While operating a Fashion Business Start-up Academy, they are going to create a joint-brand based website in 2017 to introduce the key features of the stores, the young entrepreneurs and general information about the shopping street in order to strengthen their marketing power and to further activate Ewha Fashion Culture Street.