Shopping route voor Londen:
Marylebone High Street:
A good place to start is Matches Fashion. This store is deep in Marylebone (young professional yuppy cunt / yummy mummy district). The store packs a punch with a very eclectic collection of men’s brands. You can pick up anything from A. Sauvage, Balenciaga, Balmain, Gant
Rugger and Nudie, all the way down to Polo, Canada Goose, Moncler, Trussadi and Turnbull and Asser. Great collections, but you rarely leave with any pants or boxers on.
A 2 minute walk down the road brings you to Sandro where as you know, you will find some absolute fucking gold-dust most of the time.
Chiltern Street (Marylebone area):
4 minutes west (as the crow flies) will take you to a cosy neighbourhood shop called Trunk Clothiers who need no introduction. Trunk
is a collection of the best menswear and accessories from the less explored corners of Japan, Italy, the UK, Sweden and the US.
At the prestigious Drapers Fashion Awards, Trunk were declared the 2012 winner of the 'Premium Independent Retailer' category. You
will find classics such as hard to find special Japanese cut Barbour Bedale jackets, brands such as Aspesi, Boglioli, Beams+, Common Projects, Drakes, Gitman, Incotex, Mackintosh, Kitsuné, Massimo Alba, Nanamica, Our Legacy and Piccolo (to name just a few)..!
Sunspel England is right across the street offering up clean, classic handcrafted modern everyday luxuries. The entire collection is made in England, craftsmanship is paramount at the brand and they offer everything from the best cut chino to ‘Sea Island Cotton’ underwear. Their sweatpants and zip hoody are a particular staple.
St. Christopher’s Place:
Just 5 minutes walk from Trunk, conveniently on the pilgrimage you will find one of the best Baristas in London at Workshop on Wigmore Street. They roast some of the world’s best beans at their facility in Clerkenwell and serve it up in whatever form you choose.
I like wearing shirts and I get through a lot of them. I’m not on the best money so for cheap, decent quality, classic shirts with every option under the sun then you would be spoiled for choice at TM Lewin which is a mere 30 seconds from Workshop coffee and 30 seconds walk into the epi-centre of St Christopher’s Place.
Here you will find very reasonably priced, good quality shirts. You can choose any 4 shirts for £100 and sometimes even 5 for £100. In terms of choice you can choose between a regular, slim, tailored or fully-tailored-fit. Options offer up a variety of collars such as Button-down, cutaway or a classic. Materials also vary from non-iron, poplin, herringbone, 140’s, Dogtoothe etc. You can choose among a variety of cuffs such as double, single and button cuff. Then you have a choice of almost every colour on checks / plain / print / dogtooth (anyway you get the picture).
South Molton Street:
A swift 4 minute walk will take you past Mulberry, across the maelstrom of Oxford Street (H+M, Uniqlo, Topman, Selfridges) and onto South Molton Street. This is where things get interesting with Brown’s Fashion who offer much the same as Matches in Marylebone in high fashion but with a little more emphasis on contemporary menswear designers such as Dior Homme, Dries, Rick Owens etc.
Half-way down the street, Italy has made a impressive statement to London’s menswear scene with Officina Slowear. Here you can find the impeccably cut, famous Incotex chinos in every colour under the sun. You will then find their other brands Zanone for fine knitwear, Glanshirt for shirts and Montedoro for quality jackets. Between them, the Slowear family of brands covers almost all men's casual wardrobe requirements in a classic-yet-modern way. The shop is very cool, decked out with a Mad Men era style decor.
At the end of the street, 30 seconds away there is Diptyque for unique fragrances and the reasons you stated.
Now you’re on a bit of a roll, a swift 6 minute walk along Brook Street past John Smedley, Reiss, Comme de Garçons, Mackintosh, The
Refinery (mens grooming) will bring you to Liberty London.
Regent Street:
Liberty London, in my opinion, in both aesthetics and substance is hands-down the best department store in London. It is housed in a beautiful mock-tudor building with exposed beams and oak staircases. For menswear it is second to none. Head of Fashion Buying & Merchandising Stephen Ayers, has hit the nail on the head by creating a relatively cosy, easy to navigate five room experience that will naturally whisk you through the shoe department, accessories, high end fashion, street wear and casual wear categories. You will find the very best pieces from Dries, Philip Lim, Paul Smith, Alexander McQueen, APC, Hartford, Folk, Norse Projects, Margiela, Lanvin, Jil Sander, Nigel Cabourn, Linda Farrow, Ralph.. (the list goes on).
Regent Street has some of the better ‘bigger brands’ around such as Hackett, Massimo Dutti, Hilfiger, Brooks Brothers and Barbour. J.Crew will be opening their first international flagship store at the old Burberry site in prime location to reel in punters. You can find Belstaff just off of Regent Street Street, as well as famed haberdasher Drakes of London.
Soho area:
If it’s lesser known British heritage designers you like then taking a stroll to the ‘Newburgh Quarter’ will unearth some hidden gems such as Albam Clothing. They are purveyors of practical, utility-friendly men’s clothing such as waxed jackets, shirting and chinos. They have incorporated brands such as Red Wing, New Balance and Aiguille along with their own designs to add to the threat.
Strolling further east down Soho cobbled streets will bring you to even lesser known independent menswear shops offering up unlimited haberdashery options (pocket squares, ties, bow ties etc). All roads lead to the larger stores such as A.P.C, Evisu (vom), C.P. Company, Barbour Heritage and Levi’s Vintage.
Picadilly area:
If it’s luxe you are looking for then a 3 minute walk from Barbour’s flagship store on Lower Regent Street, past Savile Row and Burlington
Arcade you can find Bond Street. Bond Street is the luxury brand Mecca where you will find Russians and Arabs negotiating themselves around Etro, Gucci, LV, the Ralph Lauren London mansion, Loro Piana, Cuccinelli, Cartier etc etc etc.
A stone’s throw from Bond Street, 3 minutes walk over the other side of Picadilly you can find Jermyn Street. London’s ‘Gentleman’s
quarter’. This is where traditionally you get everything that goes with your Savile Row suit as well as casual and country attire. Some of England’s finest cobblers are situated on this street such as Church’s, Tricker’s, John Lobb and Crockett & Jones. You will find shirtmakers such as Budd and Turnbull & Asser. Then one of my personal favourites; New & Lingwood.
You can round off the day with a short 4 minute shuffle to Dover Street Market.
After a fruitful trip, I can state the obvious by telling you that there is a lot to be earned from taking advantage of the seemingly unlimited presence of pubs (pretty much one on almost every street).
To compare that shopping route, I present a shop-by-shop googlemap plan to prove the convenience of menswear shopping in London compared to the route stated in your Four-Pins blog entry on notable NYC menswear stores.
If you follow the link below, you will find that the route I suggested in London would typically take 51 minutes to walk (without stopping in any shops):
Bijbehorende kaart
