Cutting-Edge Clobber
If you do this on a Sunday, kick off at an insufferably antisocial hour (before 9am) to avoid the hungover hipster hordes at Columbia Road Flower Market (see Activities). Otherwise, have a cab drop you on quiet, quaint Calvert Ave, starting at rugged men’s den #10 Oliver Spencer / 7739 3270 / oliverspencer.co.uk / and girly Korean sanctuary #16 Wonderound / wonderound.co.uk. Stroll over Boundary St to find cute mum n’ baby faddle at #24 Luna & Curious / 3222 0034 / lunaandcurious.com / then over the road you pop for African accoutrements at #13 Soboye / 7729 3521 / soboye.com; lusty costume jools at #11 Mawi / 7033 9853 / mawi.co.uk; and cosy, urban-print textiles at #7 Charlene Mullen / 7739 6987 / charlenemullen.com. Retrace, and dip left onto Boundary St to either inhale a buttery pastry at #2 Albion / 7729 1051 / albioncaff.co.uk / or flop at #7 boho Dishoom (see Rest/Relaxed) for lusty, gutsy Bombay fare. Next door, #7 (m) or #5 (w) Sunspel / 7739 9729 / sunspel.com / has heritage cottons, then spin left into hipanista haven Redchurch St. Boxpark (see Standout Stores) is a quick skip down Ebor St, or continue on Redchurch for loco cocoa at #19-29 Mast Brothers / mastbrothers.com; snappy guy buys at #43 Hostem / 7739 9733 / hostem.co.uk; wonder whiffs at #61 Le Labo / 3441 7757; pop-up surprises at #67 In House / 7729 5117 / inhousestudios.co.uk; and on the opp. cnr, quaff n’ coiffeur #64 Barber & Parlour / barberandparlour.com. Hasten on for a chic homeware hat-trick, starting with #81 Klaus Haapaniemi’s / 7739 6777 / klaush.com / magical Finnish design, traddy lovely #85 Labour and Wait / 7729 6253 / labourandwait.co.uk / and Med multibrand #93 Monologue / 7729 0400 / monologuelondon.com. Twirl left at Bethnal Green Rd, and left again into the dingy tail-end of Brick Ln for modish, moulded plywood furny at #230 Unto This Last / 7613 0882 / untothislast.co.uk / and kooky hats (w) at #234 Bernstock Speirs / 7739 7385 / bernstockspeirs.com. Now, double back and cross Bethnal Green Rd for the main stretch of Brick Ln. Wrap your chops round a smoked salmon bagel from old-timer #159 Beigel Bake on the right, or hit your sweet spot at #141 Dark Sugars Chocolates, then totter down to #131 This Shop Rocks / 7739 7667 / a fun jumble of antique finds. Powering onwards, swing left into Cheshire St for gladbags and trendy trinkets at #22 Comfort Station / 7033 9099 / comfortstation.co.uk; whimsical hand-etched animal prints and cerams at #24 Jimbobart (see Standout Stores); and pre-loved designer togs at #28 Lost Laundry / 7729 4882 / lostlaundry.co.uk. Shoot back and left onto Brick Ln – there’s plenty more to go. Soldier on to #91 The Old Truman Brewery / trumanbrewery.com / for a ton of indie shops, then hurry past the curry houses and detour left into Hanbury St for golden oldie #55 Blitz London / 7377 0730 / blitzlondon.co.uk. About-face and cont. up the other half of Hanbury St for hip his n’ hers brands at #23 YMC / 3432 3010 / youmustcreate.com; brill brollies at #20 London Undercover / 7377 1553 / londonundercover.co.uk; and spiffy brogues at #18 Grenson / grenson.co.uk. Slip left into Commercial St where #98 Topman General Store / 7377 2671 / has offbeat dood duds. Cross over to Spitalfields Market for nice caffs. Cuppa Rosie Lee? Not ’arf, darlin’.