What: Colette
Where: 213 rue Saint-Honoré,
Paris, 011-33-1-55-35-33-90, www .colette.fr
Why: C’est magnifique for its cutting-edge jewelry, books, music, fragrance, and candles — a veritable one-stop shop for die-hard mavens of contemporary modern. Don’t miss the iPod cases by Yoshida, each customized by a different artist, or the limited edition black-and-yellow Polaroid camera called Poison Frog, altered to look like — ribbit — you guessed it.
What: Berluti Madison
Where: 971 Madison Ave.,
New York, (212) 439-6400,
www.berluti.comWhy: What’s not to love about a company that names its shoes Physio, Piercing, and Wild Dandy? Calling them shoes, though, is almost disrespectful: These are works of art that just happen to masquerade as functional footwear, lovingly stitched up by the Berluti family since 1895.
Rudolph Valentino and Greta Garbo loved Berlutis; you will, too.
What: 3 Cups
Where: 431 West Franklin St., Chapel Hill,
North Carolina, (919) 968-8993,
www.3cups.netWhy: Ex-Whole Foods Markets exec Lex Alexander knows what’s good, and he’s brewing it up in his little shop in downtown
Chapel Hill. His single-origin, organically grown coffee — made in press pots, always within a week of the beans’ hand-roasting — is
java you can jones for. (And the same applies to 3 Cups’ full-leaf teas and artisan chocolates.)
What: The Conran Shop
Where: 407 East 59th St., New York, (212) 755-9079,
www.conran.comWhy: It didn’t all start with Martha, you know. Terence Conran opened his Habitat shop in
London in 1964 and presto: Good design became more accessible. Today’s Conran Shops (in London, Paris,
Tokyo, and more) offer up sleek sofas, forward-thinking lighting, stylish totes, towels, you name it — you’ll even find goodies for mod little ones.
— Rob Brinkley