서울시 양말제조지원센터

An employee at the Seoul Socks Manufacturing Support Center in Dobong District, northern Seoul, sets a socks-knitting machine on Thursday. [PARK SANG-MOON]

A tall knitting machine around 3 meters high was producing a sample of socks at the Seoul Socks Manufacturing Support Center in Dobong District, northern Seoul, on Sept. 7.
 
The machine began knitting a sock after a designer at the center pressed a few buttons and pushed start. In seconds, a completed sock popped out of a tube.
 
The head of the Seoul Socks Manufacturing Support Center in Dobong District, which houses small sock startups, said the machines at the center make 1,000 or so sock samples a year.  

The center offers an opportunity for small sock business owners to realize their designs through samples, which would cost them a fortune if they did it on their own.
 
The only requirement to access the expensive and highly advanced machines is a business registration.
 
The center is one of the seven support centers that target small businesses. 
 
Clothing, leather goods, socks and metal accessories are the major industries that these centers support. 
 
The very first center was opened in 2020 to support Korean fashion businesses — once major contributors to the Korean economy in the 1970s and 1980s — as key export items when most businesses were OEMs (original equipment manufacturers).
 
Another center supporting fashion businesses opened in 2021 and the other five, including centers supporting sock and leather goods businesses, opened in 2022.
  

A collection of socks designed in collaboration with Korean character designers on display at the exhibit room of Seoul Socks Manufacturing Support Center on Sept. 7 [PARK SANG-MOON]

 This year, the Seoul government stepped up its support for business expanding overseas by attending major events abroad.
 
Next month, the Seoul Socks Manufacturing Support Center plans to run a booth exhibiting the products manufactured by Korean companies at the LA Korean Festival in Los Angeles.
 
The festival is scheduled to run from Oct. 12 through 15.
 
A total of 28 socks collaborated with Korean characters, including Jelly Gom, will be showcased at the festival. Other socks designed by companies in Dobong will be sold at the festival as well.
 
The Seoul Leather Manufacturing Support Center located in Amsa-dong, Gangdong District, which offers similar services for businesses selling leather goods, is attending MIPEL in Milan between Sept. 17 and Sept. 20.
 
MIPEL is the largest business-to-business (B2B) exhibition for leather goods globally, held twice a year. Around 300 companies across the world have participated in the exhibition.
 
The support center will operate a booth and showcase leather goods produced by 11 companies in Seoul.
 
Some of these Korean brands use upcycled and vegan leather. 
 
The center’s booth will be the only Korean booth at the exhibition.
 
According to the heads of these centers, the centers not only support small businesses but also the local community.
 
“We help small merchants or those who wish to start a socks business to begin their enterprise by producing samples at the center and also help them to connect with factories in the district,” said Lee Hi-jo, the head of Seoul Socks Manufacturing Support Center. The center works with around 120 factories in the area.
 
The Seoul Socks Manufacturing Support Center located in Chang-dong, Dobong District, is equipped with various machines, including knitting machines, 3D printers and automatic embroidery machines, in the 188-square-meter (2,023-square-feet) machine room.
 
Designing and producing samples as well as consulting with experts in the business can all be done at the center in Dobong without paying for any of them, according to the head of the center.
 
According to Lee, around 40 percent of socks produced in Korea are made in Dobong. Of the 286 sock companies in Seoul, 190 businesses are located in Dobong District, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Government.
 
The socks industry became Dobong’s major business in the 1970s, but Lee said not a lot of people are aware of it.
 
“Letting more people know that Dobong is where socks businesses are clustered is also one of our goals.”
 
Last year, a total of 135 companies used the machine room to produce samples at the center. This helped them save around 5.4 million won ($4,040) in costs.
  

An employee at the Seoul Socks Manufacturing Support Center in Dobong District, northern Seoul, on Thursday looks at sample requests. [PARK SANG-MOON]

 Established in April last year, the center gradually became known to people wishing to start their socks business.
 
Competition to enter the educational programs offered at the center is four to one. The programs include lessons on design, branding and starting a business.
 
“The barriers to entry for starting a socks business are not that high,” Lee said.
 
“You only need around 10 million won [$7,530] to start your own business.”
 
That is why the center encourages more people to try designing and creating their own socks and start a business.
 
Sample requests can be made through the center’s website called Socksnet. After submitting the design request, individuals can then consult with experts to modify their designs and receive their samples.
 
Once an individual confirms the sample and decides to request an order for the socks, the center introduces two to three factories to these buyers, ultimately providing millions of won worth of work to the factories.
 
According to Lee, demand for socks produced in Korea is rising especially thanks to their quality.
 
“Because socks produced in Korea are mostly of good quality, Amazon sellers and buyers in Japan regularly contact us to produce socks in the country.”
 
The center has been making efforts to expand Korea’s socks market globally, attending exhibitions and sales shows in cities like Paris.
 
“Our next homework is to think about how to create a unique identity of Korean socks.”
 
Seoul Leather Manufacturing Support Center in Gangdong manages around 120 entities, including fashion brands and production companies. Nearly half or 60 companies are run by people in their 20s and 30s.
 
“Our job is to help leather good businesses to cooperate with factories and other businesses in the area and help them settle down in the neighborhood,” said Hong Chang-uk, the head of the center in Amsa-dong in Gangdong District, eastern Seoul.
 
“Our latest focus is to educate and prepare them for the fourth industrial revolution by giving access to the latest machines like automatic leather cutting and 3D modeling devices.”
  

People make leather goods in the Seoul Leather Manufacturing Support Center's workroom in Gangdong District, eastern Seoul, on Thursday. Individuals are required to book a session to use the facility and complete a safety lesson. [PARK SANG-MOON]

 The leather cutting machine operated automatically after a person entered the design and pressed a button. In less than a minute, a rectangular leather piece was cut into a flower shape.
 
In the workroom, there are 17 machines used to design, cut, sew and attach leather. Beginners can take lessons on designs and how to use the machines in a separate computer room right next to the workroom. A studio next door is equipped with cameras and lights for people to take photos of their products and even go live to sell their products.
 
“The equipment placed in the room is capable of cutting a certain amount of leather goods in an hour, which would usually take two to three days for factories to do them for an equivalent amount.”
 
Those using the facility should book a session in advance and are only allowed to use the room up to 10 hours a week.

An employee at the Seoul Leather Manufacturing Support Center in Gandong District, eastern Seoul, takes a photo of a leather bag at the center's studio on Thursday. [PARK SANG-MOON]