Critique my London Shop List

[faust]

Ok, so 99% I will be in London in September. I am compiling a list of shops and I hope you guys can add, modify, delete. My interests are basically high-end, avant-garde, cutting edge (etc.) fashion (menswear), especially Belgian. I like stuff such as Ann Demeulemeester, Carol Christian Poell, Carpe Diem, Raf Simons, Margiela, Dries van Noten, Junya Watanabe, etc... I am not really interested in streetwear. Jewelry-wise, I would only like to check out Shaun Leane.

Also, I would like to know how you would rate department stores - ideally I wouldn't want to hit them all (cause there are other things to do in London), and I know even though some stores seem to carry good designers, they have no taste. For example in New York Barneys is far better than either Saks or Bergdorf Goodman.

So far this is my list in order of priority.

1. Dover St. Market

2. The Library

3. Martin Margiela boutique

4. Jas MB

5. Browns

6. Harvey Nick's

7. Selfridges

8. Liberty

[startmeup]

dude, unless you are a girl, or are into prewashed mens dolce & gabbana, no harvey nick's. liberty and selfridge are great, and so are the rest.

[Cue]

go to dsm and ask and they are well nice and will help you out

oh, and start in east london too, great shop...

[faust]

dude, unless you are a girl, or are into prewashed mens dolce & gabbana, no harvey nick's. liberty and selfridge are great, and so are the rest.

Really? That sucks. Last time I was there (granted it was in 02) it looked Ok - I remember them having Ann Dem, Margiela, Dries, etc... Is it just the way they buy, or did their image change?

[startmeup]

mostly buying, lotsa evisu and all that in mens streetwear. big designers and formalwear are ok, but street is all juicy couture and evisu

[Cue]

also remember, london prices are silly - you'll probably shit yourself

[Cue]

start:

http://www.start-london.com/mens/index.html

[RobbertJan]

hey faust,

i just got back from a trip to london. your list looks pretty good, can't really add anything. dover street market is the best store i've ever been to, i'd put liberty a bit higher on your list, they have great stuff. have fun!

[darkanimal]

Where in the list can I find CCP? Thanks!

[faust]

Where in the list can I find CCP? Thanks!

The Library, and Pineal Eye, which is one more store I forgot to add.

Cue and startmeup, thanks for the tips. I am going mostly to look (except Jas MB, I might actually get a wallet) - I know about the prices (even -VAT).

Cool, RobertJann - I'll give it my best.

[darkanimal]

Ok cool thanks faust. I'm still 60/40 right now of my trip there next month!

[Cue]

ok, was in liberty today. they have more than halved the size. still loads of the labels you are after, but man, the menswear store used to be massive, now it's almost tiny.

i thought i was going mad trying to find the old section...

however, some good sales about at the moment, i got a suit 50% off on saville row ...

[sbw4224]

dude, unless you are a girl, or are into prewashed mens dolce & gabbana, no harvey nick's. liberty and selfridge are great, and so are the rest.

I would disagree about this. Harvey Nick's might carry some of the looks you mention, but they do have a decent stock of things Faust seems to be looking for.

[samlamore]

also:

b store, on saville row next to oki-ni. for peter jensen, siv stodal, ute ploier et al...

no-one, shoreditch: http://www.no-one.co.uk

[faust]

Are there any discount stores in London worth visiting, a la Century21 in New York? Also, stores like Rokit and Relick, are they decent, or hype?

[Cue]

rokit's ok - prices are getting up there imo, but there is some good stuff in there.

there's a few more second-hand shops like that in Camden Market, and some on Earlham Street in Covent Garden, opposite Stussy.

I'm not really a second-hand shopper - mainly because the prices never seem that good to me.

for discount stores try www.tkmaxx.co.uk - very hit and miss but sometimes has some real finds in there.

[darkanimal]

Ok. so I found out that I'm definitely London bound next month. Besides checking out the shops listed above, I'm interested in gettng some punk influenced stuff. There's this Wendy's Handmade in England label that makes collaboration with Number (N)ine's leather and accessories stuff. I've searched the www but no info can be found. Where can I find them there then?

[subhuman]

Harvey Nicks is good - they're the only stockists of Cloak and Thom Browne in London! You must add B Store to yr list. Their new store on Savile Row is amazing and stocks very young up and coming designers (some straight outta Central Saint Martins!) They have Peter Jensen, Siv Stoldal and loads more. Also Matthew Murphy the buyer is the nicest man in fashion officially. He's also curating a concession in Topman - very cool