SEOUL, South Korea--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 4, 2025--
The Seoul Design Foundation is set to present seven Seoul-based lifestyle brands at Maison&Objet Paris 2025, bringing K-Lifestyle to the world. Each brand carries its own identity and vision, painting a vivid picture of the diversity and forward-looking spirit of “Seoul Lifestyle.”
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From the electrifying response to recent K-POP world tours and the Netflix global chart–topping animation K-Pop Demon Hunters, the world is turning to the Korean lifestyle as a new source of inspiration. What began with music and film has now grown to include fashion, living, and daily essentials—sparking a growing demand for the unique sensibility of Seoul.
Seoul is a city in constant motion, yet one that embraces individuality and personal style. Homes are evolving beyond simple living spaces into stages for self-expression and experience. Lifestyle products are no longer just functional; they now embody emotion, design, and sustainability.
1.COOLPIECE studio(abce-kids) — Flexible Lifestyle that Reframes Rhythm and Sensibility
abce-kids transforms everyday spaces into “stages where exhibition and relaxation coexist.” Through its own label, COOLPIECE studio, the brand goes beyond simple arrangement of objects, proposing designs that restructure the rhythm and sensibility of daily life. Its modular book station, easy to move and rearrange, allows users to flexibly reinterpret limited space—a concept closely tied to Seoul’s multilayered lifestyle. Beyond its official participation in Maison&Objet 2025, the brand also joined the Women&Design by Maison&Objet session earlier in January 2025 to expand global promotion and networking.
2.KOSTICK— Expanding the Aesthetics of Dining
KOSTICK reinterprets dining moments with contemporary tableware inspired by Korea’s food culture. The tension created by its minimalist lines and the contrast of ceramics with metal turns dishes into sculptural objects. Aligning with the trend of transforming dining tables into “small galleries,” KOSTICK combines refined aesthetics with sustainable materials and methods. Having participated in Maison&Objet for three consecutive years and supplied products to the Parisian concept store Merci, the brand continues to strengthen its global presence.
3.TWIZZLEY(DCBG INC.) — Turning Everyday Essentials into Objects of Design
DCBG INC. is a design company redefining “ordinary daily objects.” Its core brand TWIZZLEY elevates familiar items like toothbrushes into expressive design objects with unique colors and curves. While maintaining functionality, these products deliver visual and tactile satisfaction, reflecting the trend of household essentials doubling as interior décor. Consumers discover small joys and personal expression in items they use every day.
4.LINKKI— Evolving Modular Lifestyle Solutions
LINKKI offers users the experience of reinterpreting movement and space through kinetic building blocks. Rather than finished products, its modular systems invite continuous transformation and customization. Recognized with the iF Student Design Award (2016) and Core77 Design Award (2023), LINKKI has also been featured in exhibitions and workshops at the Exploratorium (USA), Eureka Science Museum (Finland), and the National Asia Culture Center (Korea), contributing to education and design innovation.
5. BDCI (Calzone) — Harmonizing Function and Form in Urban Living
BDCI designs environments where “use and form coexist.” Through its label Calzone, the brand creates objects that balance practicality and beauty by maximizing material texture and structural stability. Foldable plates and flexible storage items optimize space according to individual lifestyles, embodying the urban trend of combining efficiency with design sensibility.
6.Bmix Studio— Infusing Emotion into Spaces with Light and Texture
Bmix focuses on “the natural texture of materials” and “the restraint of form,” creating objects that blend seamlessly into living spaces over time. By merging lighting with objects, Bmix adds subtle changes and warmth to interiors. The brand exports to over 15 countries, collaborates with select shops domestically and abroad, and has showcased work at events like the Seoul Design Festival.
7.Studio Collective(plats) — A User-Created, Eco-Friendly Lifestyle
Studio Collective integrates plants and objects to infuse natural patterns into living spaces. Its label plats emphasizes user participation through rivet-style assembly, allowing consumers to complete products themselves. This approach reflects the growing preference for participatory consumption and sustainable materials. The brand was a finalist in the iF Design Award, one of the world’s top three design competitions.
These seven brands go beyond creating products—they serve as ambassadors of “Seoul Lifestyle” to the world. Their designs embody the energy of a fast-changing city, refined taste, and the warmth felt in daily life. The works unveiled at Maison&Objet Paris 2025 will transform any space into both a story and an experience. From September 4 to 8, 2025, visitors can discover Seoul’s new living trends at the Seoul Design Foundation pavilion. Every step inside the booth offers a glimpse into both the present and the future of Seoul.
Paris-Nord Villepinte │ Hall 7 (Gift & Play) │ Stand A44 B43
Seoul Design Foundation │ designseoul-maisonobjet.com
Bmix focuses on “the natural texture of materials” and “the restraint of form,” creating objects that blend seamlessly into living spaces over time. (Photo: Seoul Design Foundation)
Federal immigration agents deployed to Minneapolis have used aggressive crowd-control tactics that have become a dominant concern in the aftermath of the deadly shooting of a woman in her car last week.
They have pointed rifles at demonstrators and deployed chemical irritants early in confrontations. They have broken vehicle windows and pulled occupants from cars. They have scuffled with protesters and shoved them to the ground.
The government says the actions are necessary to protect officers from violent attacks. The encounters in turn have riled up protesters even more, especially as videos of the incidents are shared widely on social media.
What is unfolding in Minneapolis reflects a broader shift in how the federal government is asserting its authority during protests, relying on immigration agents and investigators to perform crowd-management roles traditionally handled by local police who often have more training in public order tactics and de-escalating large crowds.
Experts warn the approach runs counter to de-escalation standards and risks turning volatile demonstrations into deadly encounters.
The confrontations come amid a major immigration enforcement surge ordered by the Trump administration in early December, which sent more than 2,000 officers from across the Department of Homeland Security into the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. Many of the officers involved are typically tasked with arrests, deportations and criminal investigations, not managing volatile public demonstrations.
Tensions escalated after the fatal shooting of Renee Good, a 37-year-old woman killed by an immigration agent last week, an incident federal officials have defended as self-defense after they say Good weaponized her vehicle.
The killing has intensified protests and scrutiny of the federal response.
On Monday, the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota asked a federal judge to intervene, filing a lawsuit on behalf of six residents seeking an emergency injunction to limit how federal agents operate during protests, including restrictions on the use of chemical agents, the pointing of firearms at non-threatening individuals and interference with lawful video recording.
“There’s so much about what’s happening now that is not a traditional approach to immigration apprehensions,” said former Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Sarah Saldaña.
Saldaña, who left the post at the beginning of 2017 as President Donald Trump's first term began, said she can't speak to how the agency currently trains its officers. When she was director, she said officers received training on how to interact with people who might be observing an apprehension or filming officers, but agents rarely had to deal with crowds or protests.
“This is different. You would hope that the agency would be responsive given the evolution of what’s happening — brought on, mind you, by the aggressive approach that has been taken coming from the top,” she said.
Ian Adams, an assistant professor of criminal justice at the University of South Carolina, said the majority of crowd-management or protest training in policing happens at the local level — usually at larger police departments that have public order units.
“It’s highly unlikely that your typical ICE agent has a great deal of experience with public order tactics or control,” Adams said.
DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a written statement that ICE officer candidates receive extensive training over eight weeks in courses that include conflict management and de-escalation. She said many of the candidates are military veterans and about 85% have previous law enforcement experience.
“All ICE candidates are subject to months of rigorous training and selection at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, where they are trained in everything from de-escalation tactics to firearms to driving training. Homeland Security Investigations candidates receive more than 100 days of specialized training," she said.
Ed Maguire, a criminology professor at Arizona State University, has written extensively about crowd-management and protest- related law enforcement training. He said while he hasn't seen the current training curriculum for ICE officers, he has reviewed recent training materials for federal officers and called it “horrifying.”
Maguire said what he's seeing in Minneapolis feels like a perfect storm for bad consequences.
“You can't even say this doesn't meet best practices. That's too high a bar. These don't seem to meet generally accepted practices,” he said.
“We’re seeing routinely substandard law enforcement practices that would just never be accepted at the local level,” he added. “Then there seems to be just an absence of standard accountability practices.”
Adams noted that police department practices have "evolved to understand that the sort of 1950s and 1960s instinct to meet every protest with force, has blowback effects that actually make the disorder worse.”
He said police departments now try to open communication with organizers, set boundaries and sometimes even show deference within reason. There's an understanding that inside of a crowd, using unnecessary force can have a domino effect that might cause escalation from protesters and from officers.
Despite training for officers responding to civil unrest dramatically shifting over the last four decades, there is no nationwide standard of best practices. For example, some departments bar officers from spraying pepper spray directly into the face of people exercising Constitutional speech. Others bar the use of tear gas or other chemical agents in residential neighborhoods.
Regardless of the specifics, experts recommend that departments have written policies they review regularly.
“Organizations and agencies aren’t always familiar with what their own policies are,” said Humberto Cardounel, senior director of training and technical assistance at the National Policing Institute.
“They go through it once in basic training then expect (officers) to know how to comport themselves two years later, five years later," he said. "We encourage them to understand and know their training, but also to simulate their training.”
Adams said part of the reason local officers are the best option for performing public order tasks is they have a compact with the community.
“I think at the heart of this is the challenge of calling what ICE is doing even policing,” he said.
"Police agencies have a relationship with their community that extends before and after any incidents. Officers know we will be here no matter what happens, and the community knows regardless of what happens today, these officers will be here tomorrow.”
Saldaña noted that both sides have increased their aggression.
“You cannot put yourself in front of an armed officer, you cannot put your hands on them certainly. That is impeding law enforcement actions,” she said.
“At this point, I’m getting concerned on both sides — the aggression from law enforcement and the increasingly aggressive behavior from protesters.”
Law enforcement officers at the scene of a reported shooting Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
Federal immigration officers confront protesters outside Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
People cover tear gas deployed by federal immigration officers outside Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
A man is pushed to the ground as federal immigration officers confront protesters outside Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
A woman covers her face from tear gas as federal immigration officers confront protesters outside Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
