Fashion shopping in Lombardy & The Lakes
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E. Marinella
Looking for something to go with the John Lobbs? Naples’ legendary su misura (bespoke) tie-maker has finally made it to Milan. Heavy wooden drawers are filled with RTW silk beauties, subtly adorned with tiny flowers or geometric patterns. Once inside this elegant, private atelier though, you’ll be sure to want a precisely fitted six-fold wool-lined fat-knot number. Their advice: ‘the only rule is to follow the instinct’.
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Dmagazine
Given you usually have to schlep out of town for deeply discounted designer threads, what’s up with this perversely central outlet? Yes, all the major labels are here, but tend to be the stranger of their kind. Plus the tawdry jumble of oddments still going for many hundreds of euro and a barely contained atmosphere of frenzy can make even the most dedicated fashionista sick at heart.
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Il Salvagente
As you scurry down through the grim courtyard to this basement shop, it can all feel a bit below board. Don’t worry, it may be cash only but the stock is legit, if so tightly jammed together on rails that you’ll wish you’d done a few upper-body workouts in preparation. Brands include giants Prada, D&G, Versace, Ferretti and Armani, and more unusual labels such as Teo Erre.
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Biffi
Retailer Rosy Biffi spotted potential in the young Gio and Gianni long before Armani and Versace became household names (more recently, she got Milanese women hooked onto US cult-brand jeans). She has a knack for interpreting edgier trends and making them work for conformist Milan; check out her selection of international fashion heavyweights for both men and women.
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TAD
This ‘concept store’ could have done with a few less of those concept thingies; its mishmash of styles is so desperate to please it’s hard to get to the Proenza Schuler, Balenciaga and Hussein Chalayan without wanting to slap someone. If you can grin and bare it, there’s also a hairdresser, homewares department and cafe.
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Boule de Neige
Such a small, wonderfully edited selection of shoes, accessories, separates and dresses makes pulling out the credit card too easy. Emma Hope’s distressed metallic runners and/or Boule de Neige’s own brand of cashmere cardies and patterned silk smocks? In which colour? Staff are sweet and utterly unfazable.
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Viativoli
Well-cut trousers might be a prosaic claim to fame, but this Milanese stalwart’s simple suiting for women comes with enough interesting twists to keep customers faithful. Any hint of stuffiness is dispelled with stripy tees and mix-and-match bikini separates in smartly white-sprigged navy and red.
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Aspesi
The size of this Antonio Citterio-designed shop is a clue to just how much Italians love this label; Aspesi outerwear is de rigueur for mountain and lake weekends. The arty industrial sprawl is ironically at odds with an essentially practical marque: sportswear at its most understated.
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Asap
Locally sourced, recycled jersey, cashmere and leather are the base materials of asap (as sustainable as possible). The pieces are not just gorgeously detailed, cool and unique; they question fashion’s endlessly recurring cycle of excitement and oblivion. What else would a smart girl wear?
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Paul Smith
Smith’s pink palazzo is a wry mix of clothes, accessories, jewellery and exquisite vintage objects. There are echoes of his Westbourne House HQ, while nodding to Italian tastes. His eclectic vision and high colour is an energising counterpoint to Armani’s beige beacon across the street.
reviewed
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Galleria Rossana Orlandi
Super stylist Rossana Orlandi’s fashion choices are no less inspired than her interiors. Clothes here depart from the OTT Milanese norm with some pieces paired back, smart and pretty, others totally left of field. Dare we say it feels a little French?
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Agua del Carmen
Fornasetti faces appear to signal their approval of the great mix of ultrawearable clothes, shoes and bags. Orla Kiely totes, Pedro Garcia flats and Sylvie Quartara flip-flops are sensible (and sensibly priced) but have eye candy appeal too.
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Suede
A rare chance to fill out your wardrobe with fun directional dresses and separates at rock- bottom prices (without the hovering panic attack of the Zara or H&M change rooms). Shoes don’t skimp on style either and come in rainbow shades.
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Atribu
If brands that advertise on billboards are not your thing, Atribu features a host of young Italian designers (including the Japanbased Rossella Carrara), interesting labels from Sweden, Belgium and Japan and the odd oneoff treasure.
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Henry Beguelin
Softly unconstructed coats, strappy sandals and earthily decorated bags are handmade using leather that’s been tanned and dyed using traditional techniques. The haute-hippy look is also carried through to linen separates for summer.
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I-Milano Tortona
The clothes here are all about kicking back and looking like you’ve not made any kind of effort (an unusual concept in Milan). Earthy tones and natural fabrics reign, paired with plastic jelly shoes or Bensimon plimsoles.
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Officina Slowear
Slowear takes its cue from the Slow Food philosophy and markets a stable of labels (Incotex, Zanone) that all fit a wearable, reasonably timeless and beautifully tactile bill. Perfect for scouting a new office wardrobe.
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Daad Dantone
This beautiful shop creates a stir with its collection of edgy Japanese and European labels and designer collaborations. The arresting window displays facing Via della Spiga are always worth a look.
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To B
Here’s a well-chosen range of T-shirts and casual wear that fills a packing gap in a flash. Bensimon plimsoles and espridrilles come in myriad colours for similar coordination quick-fixes.
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American Apparel
Yes, they are big, bad and from downtown LA, but sometimes you really just need a teal hoodie in a hurry and don’t want to traipse the whole of Milan and hope. We’re just sayin’…
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Brazilian
More new-world shapes and colours in front of the columns, this time from south of the equator. Latin labels that the Milanese are learning to love include Osklen and Iodice.
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Kristina Ti
Kristina Ti specialises in the swooningly pretty, but never onedimensionally girly. Slips and lingerie can be nicely boxed as gifts.
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Bottega del Cashmere
Lovely individual shop with an extensive range of quality cashmere. (Some of us are too sensitive to wear ordinary wool.)
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