You guys have been on a roll with the international store suggestions lately. After several superb suggestions in Norway and Iceland, the latest is Azita in Frankfurt. The quintessentially urban store is rife with energetic, young talent.
Azita's own T-shirt line has an '80s exercise clothing color pallete, and geometries reminiscent of early video games. We're fans.
We had a feeling Reykjavik would be a cool place to shop. Say hello to Kronkron, a Reykjavik shop stocking some of the more interesting Scandinavian and European labels. And if you're not planning a visit anytime soon, we'd try out their online shopping. If only because it'd be super cool to get a package from Iceland.
Hot on the heels of our mention of Norway's Pepper, someone suggested Freudian Kicks, a fine indie shop in Oslo. The shop mixes hip Scandinavian labels with some intriguing European names.
We loved Freudian Kicks' excellent selection of Gaspard Yurkievich, including men's stuff that we hadn't seen anywhere else before.
Then there's the sneakers by Swedish label Sneaky Steve. While we're now pretty sure we've seen over 43,200 pairs of leather men's hightops, we still couldn't resist the label's simple, relatively affordable version.
And finally if you have been following along long enough you know we love us a nice print T-shirt, so we were delighted to find Norway's own Daonefootedgoose, a tiny T-shirt operation doing interesting and artful prints.
By the way, in case you're having trouble converting Norwegian Kroner to dollars or haven't figured out that "Vis Alle" mean "View All", our suggester tells us that a English version of their site will debut later this year (yeah, yeah, we'll let you know when it's up).
Today we add two shops to the guide. One is in LA and the other is in San Diego. And they don't sell any of the same items really. But they both do a fantastic job of blending art and commerce.
For its part, Family in LA is stuffed with art books, DVDs, comic books, zines, prints and other creative output. The art books alone are worth the visit, as they represent some of the most interesting work being done by up and coming artists around the world.
Igloo (coming to us by way of suggestion) explores under the radar art, particularly that of California surf and skate culture. Prints, photo books, painted decks, T-shirts, even buttons are wonderfully creative in a completely unpretentious sort of way.
Both shops offer online shopping for a limited number of items.
Just goes to show you, every city has a high-fashion audience. Jil Sander, Issey Miyake, Martin Margiela, in Philadelphia? Joan Schepp has it. Not only that but they've recently gone online as well! Thanks to a reader suggestion it is a latest addition to the guide.
Orange County knows many Kristens, Britneys, Laurens and Chrissys but not too many Adeles if you get what we mean. Adele, the latest addition to the guide, is unlike any shop we've ever seen in Orange County in that it's not inundated with short denim skirts, flip-flops, pink T-shirts and sunglasses with ridiculous proportions. No, Adele is more into tights, cardigans, pencil skirts and trenchcoats, stuff that would be boutique standards in New York but that are no doubt much appreciated in Laguna Beach and Irvine.
Scour all the vintage racks you want, many of the pieces featured at Archive will be just impossible to track down elsewhere. The Texas-based, online designer vintage boutique is the brainchild of a former New York designer vintage boutique owner and the pedigree is obvious. On display is a rotating display of some of the most significant fashion design to happen from the '60s on.
Charles Jourdan
How is it that a little boutique in Houston carries one of the most extensive selections of Y's by Yohji Yamamato we've ever seen? We don't know but we're not complaining. By way of a succinct suggestion by a kind reader, Pixie & Ivy is the latest addition to the guide.
Like Karen Walker and Ksubi before it, could Claude Maus be the next Aussie/Kiwi label to make the leap into the US and the rest of the world? Maybe. The label recently opened its flagship store in Melbourne (which, when someone recommended it to the guide, is how we first heard of the label), and seems poised for expanding further. The clothes, (and, for that matter, the haircuts!) would certainly fit right in on the streets of Manhattan.
By way of a kind suggestion we were led to Poste. Now this is truly a shoe shop for the modern gentleman--one that wears a T-shirt and canvas sneakers one day, a suit and loafers the next day, and a tux and patent leather lace-ups that night. Another sign of a progressive shoe shop? Their website friendsofposte.com, where they regularly post their latest arrivals in blog format and take worldwide orders. We have a feeling this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
Flip-flops and T-shirts be damned. Heist may be a stone's throw from the the ocean, but we think even the Pacific Ocean can appreciate a sexy pairs of heels and a flirty dress. The Venice shop, which recently added an online shop, is the latest addition to our guide.
In some ways, Bona Drag reminds us of Le Train Bleu in its earlier days. After all, it's online only, favors a dark, romantic motif, and carries lines that are completely new to us. But while Le Train Bleu featured upstart European and New York labels, Bona Drag has found its particular brand of stylish femininity in smaller designers from America, some in New York, but most from the relatively untapped pool of independent designers from the West Coast.
Stephanie Simek
What does it say about Italy that even in the minor city of Sarzana there's a shop like Massimo Rubini, full of top tier designer clothing and accessories. Imagine shopping for Lanvin and Balenciaga in Albany or Boise. But this doesn't seem to faze the Italians a bit, as having access to $2000 dresses seems to be a birthright. Welcome Massimo Rubini to the guide!
We were rather excited to see Atsui Tokyo pop up in our suggestions box--it's an idea long overdue. You see, do any amount of wandering around Japanese online boutiques and you're bound to run into any number of cool Japanese clothing labels that have exactly zero exposure in the US--until now at least. Names like Filly O' Lynx, ManOfMoods, Balcony & Bed and Citrus Notes reveal a facet of Japanese fashion different from the expensive, avant-garde and often challenging designs of Comme, Yohji and Issei. Atsui gets these fun, fashionable lines and finally makes them available for American consumers.
Today, kind readers, we need to tell you that you guys rock. In the past few weeks we've gotten a slew of suggestions for our guide and they've been better than we could have ever hoped for. We've gotten stores in Seattle, New York and Zurich, selling avant-garde fashion, mid-century modern furnishings and vintage jewelry and accessories; they've been a joy to research and add to the guide. Which brings us to Sefton, suggested just last week.
The pair of boutiques in the Islington neighborhood of London carry an admirable variety of men's and women's clothing and accessories. The mix of design in the shops is simply fabulous.
They have high-end fashion standards like Alexander McQueen, Stella McCartney, Paul Smith and Martin Margiela.
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