Mod concept store + historical Duomo = amore
A mod shop chock full of goodies from fashion gods Balmain, Altuzarra, Maison Martin Margiela and Isabel Marant? How could anyone with a pulse say no; off to Milan we go – where else? Centrally located in the Duomo, the Excelsior Milano is a seven-storey concept store designed by starchitect Jean Nouvel and helmed by Italian retailer Gruppo Coin. With five floors of runway-worthy brands and two more for drool-tastic nosh, we think the Excelsior Milano has just redefined “retail therapy”.
Galleria del Corso, 4, Milan, Italy. T: +39 02 7630 7301. W: excelsior-milano.it
For the complete guide to what’s fab in Milan, check out the LUXE Milan guide!
Baubles galore in ANA's window display
If you’re in Singapore and have a weak spot for Aussie labels, but don’t have the time, or means to regularly jet off Down Under, then you’re going to love ANA Boutique. The store stocks established and emerging brands like flirty, feminine Fleur Wood, cult favourite Zimmermann, and in-house label Ana Vu, along with baubles and home ware from the likes of resin wizards Dinosaur Designs. What you won’t find in this two-level shop on Club Street is winter-wear—the boutique “caters for the country that has no seasons,” and we say hear, hear to endless summers. Not sure what suits you? Make an appointment with an on-site stylist, who’ll have you sashaying out the door like a Bondi babe.
Ana Boutique. 86 Club Street, Singapore. T: +65 6221 2897. W: anaboutiques.com
Find more of our Singapore favourites in the LUXE Singapore guide or in our handy mobile app.
What a lark!
Sydney’s denizens may be blessed with the great outdoors, but they’re also devoted nest featherers, and the lucky poppets are spoilt for choice when it comes to standout furniture and décor stores. Carving a niche in the city’s lifestyle shop trail is Pure and General – part gift boutique, part home wares store, part Paris’ Merci (but for profit), and a showcase of the artisanal and unique, it’s the product of the owners’ year-long round-the-world retail harvest. Nice work, if you can get it…
Saddlers Union - Jackie O approved
Hello Leggy Lovelies, in Rome looking to get your shop on? We have just the thing for you. Working with our resident editor, we’ve shared our top ten picks from the LUXE guide with The Guardian this week. From Saddlers Union‘s luscious leathers to Delfina Delettrez‘s hyper cool glam rock jewels, we have it all covered for you shopaholics. We do look after you poppets, don’t we? For all the shopping gems, head over to The Guardian. Wallets out!
Want more fabulous shopping in Rome? Check out our LUXE Rome guide, or handy app with apps.
Falling for Frankl at Amy Zook
OMG, the portal to purveyors of “the most beautiful things on earth”, 1stdibs.com, have opened a bricks and mortar showroom in the most fabulous city in the world, New York [ed. we still love you too London and Paris, mwah!]. That’s right, the website that you’ve spent waaay too many hours clicking through lusting after antiques, Art Deco, mid-20th century and vintage furniture, art and décor, now has fifty-three hand-picked dealers in a 33,000 sq ft space in the New York Design Center, and aesthetes everywhere are welcome. Swoon.
Standing tall and pretty
São Paulo, that big, brash megalopolis, is also the commercial, cultural and style capital of Brazil. Whilst LUXE have yet to cover South America’s biggest city (mea culpa, dear readers), now we’re there not just in spirit, but in print, thanks to the newly-opened CHOIX – a gallery-cum-concept store selling fash, design and lifestyle from Brazil and beyond, as well as our pocket rocket guides, natch.
Let there be light
Rose gold, silver and sapphires, oh my! You can never be too cool for a bit of bling, we say, and Melbourne’s hipsters are falling head over Acne heels for Pieces of Eight, a stunning avant-garde gallery-cum-contempo jewellery boutique that’s opened in one of the city’s fabulous laneways.
Oh no, granny's found the stash again!
Cocktails and retail are two of LUXE’s favourite things, so when word got out that they’ve come together at the succinctly named Drink, Shop & Do in London’s perennially “emerging” King’s Cross, we were moist with excitement. At first glance, it may look like your granny’s flat after she had a toke and hit the flea markets, but come closer, my pretty, and you’ll find a cleverly edited collection of quirky arts and crafts alongside a small yet tempting menu of boutique beers, throwback cocktails and trad confections and finger sarnies.
Trig suits for dapper chappies
Seize Sur Vingt, Paul Stuart, Thom Browne, Barker Black – it’s a roll call of essential style addresses for the modern (and in the money) dandy. Well, we were trembling with excitement in our hand-stitched wingtips when we heard that Kirk Miller, who’d earned his stripes at the above mentioned establishments, has gone out on his own with Miller’s Oath tailor and menswear in downtown New York, inspired by and a tribute to Kirk’s great granddad’s store in South Dakota.
Cosy and quirky at Crosby St Hotel
The opening of the Crosby Street Hotel in the coolest part of Soho reaffirms what clued-in New Yorkers already knew, there’s the completely commercial open air mall that most of Soho has become, and then there’s Crosby St, lined with the area’s best independent stores and concentration of gorgeousity, seemingly separated by Broadway from the Starbucks and SUV crowd.
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