Despite the doom and gloom of a recession, the good people of Britain have continued to do what they do best – consume. And as such there's been space in our hearts for new shops, new names, and a renewed vigour in ignoring our credit card statements. Check out our favourites of the year.
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It’s a tossup between LN-CC (Late Night Chameleon Cafe) and Acne’s Townhouse on Dover Street for us. We love the former for its all-encompassing artistic ethos and secret underground burrow atmosphere (as well as the handy unisex feel to most of the clothing), and the latter for its rooftop terrace, furniture and perfect denim – and did we forget to mention the gallery, complete with Helmut Lang sculptures and Jean Cocteau sketches?
LN-CC, The Basement, 18 Shacklewell Lane, E8 2EZ.
Acne, 13 Dover Street, W1S 4LN.
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Best for boys
Hostem walks away with our praise thanks to its suave shop space, perfectly tuned collection of classic cuts and off-the-cuff designer wares – plus it’s been busy impressing us with extracurricular activities including a one-room hotel and the coolest Advent calendar this Christmas. Plus it’s on the increasingly style-savvy Redchurch Street, home to the new Labour & Wait, Aubin & Wills and Bumble & Bumble flagship, Radio Hair.
Hostem: 41-43 Redchurch Street, E2 7DJ.
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Best for girls
Harvey Nichols’ Fourth Floor is our favourite drop-in spot for its cool girly selection of diffusion lines, hot new designers and the lifestyle wall. We like the Atelier Ruby helmets, Markus Lupfer Steiff exclusives (the mini mice keyrings caught our eye), Lanvin snowglobes, Kidrobot toys, and darkly fabulous DL & Co skull items, from candles to cufflinks.
Harvey Nichols: 109-125 Knightsbridge, SW1X 7RJ.
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Best for browsing
BAPE – Japanese streetwear may not be for everyone, but we can’t help but be inspired by Nigo’s cool collaborations (G-Shock, KAWS, Stussy), cutesy Baby Milo collection and cool camo hoodies.
BAPE: 4 Upper James Street, W1F 9DG.
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Best pop-up
An oxymoron in itself (please, please come up with a new spiel next year retailers of Britain), we did love the Peter Jensen x Bernstock Speirs Tee Shop with its bunny-eared caps and cute-as-a-button logo tops, the Hermès scarf shop in Spitalfields took us all by surprise with its choice of location, and at least one person in the UJ office purchased a pretty-in-pink TokyoBike after their short summer stint.
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Best collaboration
It would be too easy to say Lanvin x H&M though it was undeniably a highstreet coup. So here’s our shout out to the little guy – including honourable mentions for Tom Binns' totally covetable printed ‘jewel’ t-shirts for Matches and the summer festival perfection that was Tatty Devine x Mrs Jones. And while we loved the concept of Ashish’s Parisian fling with Topshop, the fit of the sweaters and tees seemed off.
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Best event
Vogue’s Fashion's Night Out deserves a little mention for all the fun little extras participating stores threw into the mix. Like a pub crawl for shopping addicts, we had pork pies and karaoke at Mulberry, chips in paper Prada cones, and photobooth fun at Jimmy Choo.
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| SPOTLIGHT SPONSORED LISTING |
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TWO FRONT TEETH?
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If only the people on your holiday shopping list were so easy. Thankfully, 'tis the Tiffany season for exquisite gifting. From the
iconic and distinguished to the whimsical and chic, the season is sure to sparkle brightly with the captivating designs of Tiffany & Co.
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Sure we could mention St Paul’s colossal One New Change collection of stores, but nothing has really inspired us as much as Selfridges’ new shoe floor with its multitude of designer themed rooms and limited edition treads. Having gotten gamely lost on more than one occasion, we can’t quite figure out if we love it or hate it – but we hear Nicholas Kirkwood’s pretty pastel heels for Jean-Pierre Braganza will be stocked in 2011 – reason enough to grab a compass and give it another go.
One New Change: 1 New Change, EC4M 9AF.
Selfridges: 400 Oxford Street, W1A 1AB.
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Our favourite window displays of the year came from Mulberry - so if you're looking to do oversized, take a leaf out of their fantasyland look book. Their Best of British style accents have won us over this year, from giant apples and carousel horses to THOSE huge sparkly leopards. We're lusting after a pink kitty cat for the office.
Mulberry: 50 New Bond Street, W1S 1BJ.
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We’re still searching for our Giles Deacon dinosaur bag from the designer’s S/S 2010 collection – suspect extinction, and very sad about it too. Thank God we had his Happy Sock collaboration to keep some rooooar in our wardrobes.
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Those Chanel tattoos. Yes we loved the barn setup in Selfridges (though we wish the shopgirls had gone the same coquettish route of the show and stuck some straw in their hair, roll-in-the-hay style), but when push came to shove we just didn’t want to shell out £50 for what were, essentially, stickers. Felt quite sorry for the eBay hustlers who were trying to shift them for double the price.
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Mr Porter – net-a-porter’s menswear site is due to launch in the New Year and we can’t wait – if it’s anything like the womens offering, guys all over the country will finally have something new to add to their Internet Explorer favourites pages.
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