FASHION Magazine

It’s safe to say that this fashion capital has good shopping on lock. From High Street to Shoreditch, London bursts with wallet-tempting options. It’s also home to some of the world’s best department stores, including names as posh as Harrod’s, Harvey Nichols and Selfridge’s. To help you wade through the vast options, we’ve narrowed it down to our 8 favourite stores to hit while in Londontown. By no means are these all there is, they’re just pretty damn great.

View our top 5 picks »

The shop: I’ve written about London, UK’s LN-CC before, and I’ll write about them again, because there’s hardly a store like it. Set deep in Dalston in a cubist lair-like space, all raw wood and amber lighting and the smell of incense and cloth, it feels like a more organic future. And because they launched online concurrently, their e-shop is just as far out in front of the pack: their seasonal editorial shoots are so exquisitely on-point, they’ve landed on Style.com. If you’re not on the store’s mailing list, sign up now—you get as much sartorial inspiration as temptation, promise.

The goods: LN-CC, which does nearly three quarters of its business online, sells the best new London designers (J.W. Anderson before you knew who J.W. Anderson was), the most adventurous European labels (Givenchy, Ann Demeulemeester, Commes) and a host of international finds (like high-tech knitwear by Philadelphia’s Lauren Manoogian, or earrings by Canada’s own Jaime Sin). It’s easy to shop for two, too: the men’s section is (a rarity) as good as the women’s, with owner-buyer John Skelton hewing close to his own eclectic—but functional—taste. Just don’t fall for a $400 leather boot strap, because that’s why the Eurozone is collapsing.

None of this so-called curation comes cheap, as you can see, so I suggest keeping a clear head (when are you going to wear a dress that, judging from its price, is made entirely from Edie Sedgwick’s lost sequins and a unicorn’s hair?) and one tab open to their sale page. I am waiting, waiting, waiting for my recurring dream shoes, the derby wood platforms by shoechitect ETS Callatay, to land there. If only there were a god…

There’s no questioning fashion’s love of tomboys. From Diane Keaton’s iconic Annie Hall moment to Paris Vogue editor in chief, Emmanuelle Alt’s pants-only uniform, a little gender bending always has a place among the style set. So what’s next in the way of androgynous dressing? Introducing J.W. Anderson, the Northern Irish designer who graduated from the London College of Fashion in 2007, specializing in menswear. After designing exclusively for the guys, Anderson ventured into womenswear in 2010.

Though temporarily overshadowed by Spring’s ode to the thrills and frills of the decadent ’70s, have no fear: Minimalism is still being championed by the likes of Phoebe Philo at Céline, Raf Simons at Jil Sander, as well as a number of young designers such as Central Saint Martins grad Tze Goh. Born in Singapore, he moved to New York to study at Parsons New School for Design and eventually relocated to London, where he is currently based.

In London’s far far east, where no fashion boutique has gone before, LN-CC is boldly going in a new retail direction. While the industry bickers over whether worldwide e-tail like Net-a-Porter or hyper-localized concept retail is the future, LN-CC is doing brilliantly at both like it’s no big thing.