25 Design Festival — Documenting and Looking Back
Hello, this is the design research team at Labovarde. Today, we'd like to look back and document our booth at the 2025 [Seoul Design Festival]. What kind of thinking went into building this booth, exactly?
Chapter 1. Ideation
To put it simply, it was one debate after another. The biggest point of contention was: "What concept should we use to present the space?"
Since this was a collaboration with Puppybookclub, finding a natural harmony between our two sensibilities was an important challenge in itself.
It might seem odd at first, given how different the two brands feel —
but even though we express ourselves differently, both brands share a similar attitude toward sustainability,
so we wanted our distinct textures to meet and create a new kind of harmony together.
Does anyone happen to know the meaning behind the name Labovarde?
That's right.
"Labovarde combines LABO (laboratory) and VARDE (value) —
a laboratory that researches valuable products with people, animals, and nature in mind."
Naturally, opinions split into two directions:
One side wanted to lean into a lab/research-institute mood.
The other wanted to stay true to the calm, solid sensibility, minimal products, and understated practicality the brand had built so far.
In the end, we landed not on quantitative research, but qualitative research — because we believed the process of thinking, questioning, and observing to explore meaning could itself be a form of experiment.
We believed that the whole process — making while thinking, thinking while making, devising, reasoning, and deliberating — was all part of research.
So we decided to bring to life a space where conscious thought leads to sustainable outcomes: a researcher's studio. Inside it, we chose exhibit our finished products alongside
the pieces created in collaboration with Puppybookclub.
* Proposal drafted in Korean
Chapter 2. The Preparation Process
*Proposal drafted in Korean
We turned the booth concept into draft visuals and shared them with Puppybookclub,
discussing which pieces to display in the space.
Puppybookclub reworked scrap leather and fabric with their signature sensibility
into pieces with a whole new texture,
while we kept filling in our own details bit by bit.
First, we made the props for the booth events ourselves. The pouches used for the lucky draw event were also handmade using scrap leather.
Our in-house-developed bio-leather is a new material found only at Labovarde — made by upcycling discarded leather using biomass extracted from corn. For this lucky draw event, we wove this leather into the concept ourselves: handling a variety of leather patches by hand and tucking them into Labovarde pouches to express the meaning of upcycling.
We also stayed up through the night making upcycled keyring gifts.
Since these used leftover straps from the pouch development process,
rather than straps designed specifically for keyrings,
shaping them wasn't easy, but after several rounds of adjustment, we got them just right.
We hand-picked the stones ourselves and pieced them together one by one. The main stone, onyx, is said to protect against negative energy
and bring a sense of calm — which felt very true to Labovarde's own character.
Since each keyring was upcycled by hand, the stone combinations and shapes differ slightly from piece to piece,
and that's part of the charm.
On top of that, we prepared the fixtures for the booth,
produced printed materials like postcards, posters, and stickers,
and hand-painted the die-cut Labovarde logo signage.
We even matched team outfits. Since the booth was meant to be a "researcher's studio," we went with coordinated workwear, and Puppybookclub added the finishing touch with adorable embroidery.
That completed even the smallest details. (♥)
Finally, we put the whole Labo team's diary-decorating skills to work
and made a Labovarde binder.
Chapter 3. At the Booth
Now it was time to actually set up the booth — everyone headed to the exhibition space.
No detail was too small to overlook. We cut and laid every floor tile by hand,
and there wasn't a single shelf, desk, or chair on the wall
that didn't pass through our own hands.
Through the process of putting it all together ourselves, all the elements we'd prepared
gradually came into harmony within the space — and we could feel that moment happening.
And then — hearts racing — the day the Design Festival opened finally arrived. So many people visited our booth, and seeing them look closely at our products and compliment them made us grin from ear to ear.
We were grateful to hear visitors say our products looked even better in person than in photos,
and there were even people who hadn't known about the event beforehand but were already using Labovarde products.
Beyond the lucky draw event, many people also joined our "Make Your Own Leather Diary" event —
a Seoul Design Festival exclusive, made possible with upcycled leather stickers
we prepared together with Puppybookclub.
Every single diary, decorated in each person's own style, was just so lovely and cute.
Chapter 4. Closing Thoughts
Every moment, from setting up and running the booth to connecting with visitors,
was a process of capturing the sensibility and experience Labovarde wants to share.
It was truly meaningful to be able to share, together, the quiet moments where stories filled in by each person's own perspective
kept unfolding inside the Labovarde studio.
Personally, I felt a lot while preparing for and running this booth. It would be a lie to say there was nothing to regret, but I believe even those regrets
become a stepping stone toward doing even better next time.
Once again, thank you to everyone who worked alongside us and to everyone who visited the Labovarde studio. Please keep watching — Labovarde's journey continues.
