VIBE
Don’t be fooled: the Dover Street Market is most certainly not a market (at least not in the usual grubby, hands-on-bargaining sense of “market”). The brainchild of Comme des Garçons’ Rei Kawakubo, this is a 13,000-square-foot “department store” devoted to hotter-than-thou labels. Yet again though, don’t let them trick you! Neither is this your average department store. In what can best be termed “industrial chic chaos,” each designer has been allotted a plywood-and-steel “mini-boutique” (more of an unfinished corner) to make their own, while spaces like the corrugated tin shack-cum-checkout are shared. Comme des Garçons dominates, though you can also find couture treasures from names like Raf Simons, Thom Browne, and Junya Watanabe. This can be an intimidating shopping experience.
USE A PURCHASE FROM HERE FOR
Fashion; gift; home décor
WHY WE LIKE IT
One-stop couture shopping. We like having so many designers under one–albeit a little too industrial chic–roof.
GOOD TO KNOW
The cute-as-a-button Rose Bakery (on the fourth floor) is a good spot for a post-shopping snack–we recommend the lush cakes.
CLOSEST COMPS
Browns (London); Matches (London); Barneys (New York); Barneys (Los Angeles)
Click here for our full-form mobile travel guide, The Purple Passport to London
All information within this website was checked for accuracy at the time of publication. But since the world moves quickly, things may have changed. Pardon us for any errors as we strive to give you the most up-to-the-minute details!
