If you've spent five minutes on Korean street-style Instagram, you've already seen a POTTERY shirt without knowing it. Launched in 2017 by designer Kim Geon-woo, POTTERY took its name from the Korean word for ceramics — clay that's shaped, fired, glazed, and fired again until it holds its form for good. That's the whole philosophy in one image: clothes that keep their essential shape while quietly adapting to your life. The brand calls its aesthetic "new business casual" — structured enough for the office, relaxed enough for everything after it. No logos shouting for attention, no fast-fashion churn — just clean cuts, considered fabrics, and a loose, easy silhouette that Korean shoppers in their 20s and 30s have turned into a genuine obsession. What started as a one-man operation doing roughly ₩4 million in its first year has grown into one of Seoul's fastest-rising contemporary labels, now stocked internationally through SSENSE and Philadelphia's Totem Shop.

Meet the Comfort Shirt (and Everything Around It)

POTTERY's world revolves around its Comfort Shirt — the label's signature piece, cut with a deliberately roomy, fluid silhouette that drapes rather than clings. It's the kind of shirt you can wear buttoned up for a meeting or thrown open over a tee on the weekend. Around it, the brand builds out a full wardrobe: button-downs, typewriter-cloth and oxford shirts, knitwear, denim in comfort, straight, and wide fits, tailored jackets and set-ups, cashmere-blended coats, leather goods, and accessories — for both men and women. Everything shares the same DNA: soft-structured tailoring, natural materials (a lot of Supima cotton and organic cotton), and a fit that's generous without looking sloppy.

The Silhouette That Built a Cult Following

POTTERY didn't get famous through a single viral drop or celebrity moment — it built its following the slower, sturdier way: one exceptionally well-cut shirt at a time. The brand's proprietary cutting method gives its shirts a distinctive drape that other "oversized" basics brands struggle to copy, and it's that construction — not just the loose fit — that turned the Comfort Shirt into a genuine category of its own in Korean fashion. The numbers tell the story: annual revenue went from about ₩78 million in 2018 to over ₩27 billion in 2024, with the brand now carried in Shinsegae department stores in Gangnam and Busan alongside its own flagship stores.

Why Buy It in Seoul

POTTERY's presence abroad is still limited to a handful of curated pieces on SSENSE, so Seoul is where you'll find the full collection — every fit, every colorway, every seasonal drop — plus the flagship-store experience of trying on the brand's famous cut in person before you commit. International visitors can also claim a tax refund on purchases, and the flagship stores routinely stock pieces that never make it into the brand's overseas wholesale accounts.

Price Range

Shirts run roughly ₩150,000–190,000 (about $110–140), with knitwear and denim in a similar bracket. Outerwear and cashmere-blended coats sit higher, typically ₩250,000 and up, while accessories and basics start more affordably. Overall, POTTERY sits in the premium-contemporary tier — a step above mass fast fashion, a step below true luxury.

Where to Buy in Seoul

• PTRY Hub Store (Hapjeong) — 3F, 73 Yanghwa-ro, Mapo-gu, Seoul, 04037 Naver map
  
• PTRY Flagship Store (Hannam) — 1F, 40 Itaewon-ro 55ga-gil, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, 04348 Naver map
• Seongsu Store — POTTERY's newest offline space, opened in Seongsu-dong, one of Seoul's hottest design and café districts Naver map
• Shinsegae Department Store, Gangnam & Centum City (Busan) branches
• Also available online at the official store and through 29CM

Website: https://www.ptry.co.kr/

Instagram: @ptry.inc

Photo: @ptry.inc