I have a certain fascination for the young, hip model Agyness Deyn and other such cool Londoners. The kind of people who can wear a leather cap, striped tights, blue shorts, suspenders and yellow cardigan… and still look fabulous.

I love people who don’t play by the fashion rules, or any other strict social rules for that matter. Whenever I read about their shopping tips, I picture myself in one of their favourite London stores.

Take B Store, which is a firm favourite with the cool set. B Store is on a quiet strip in the fashionable and very expensive shopping area of Mayfair. On my first visit, I probably expected something a bit more spectacular, something over the top, or at least something bigger. I wondered what all the fuss was about. Why are all these hip people so into this shop?

But once I got closer look, I completely saw the point. The clothes for both men and women are absolutely amazing, contemporary and cutting edge. Some of them made by the two very individual and interesting London-based designers Jens Laugesen and Peter Jensen.

B Store, 24a Saville Row W15 3PR. Tube: Oxford Circus or Picadilly Circus.

Persephone Books 

'It is hard to be hip over thirty'. No this isn’t my confession (it might as well have been), but the title of my favourite book of poems from my all time favourite book shop.

London is the greatest place to shop for books. There are books on just about anything – even a coffee table book about coffee tables.

Head for the gigantic Waterstone’s on Piccadilly for the ‘3 for 2’ deals. Or do, as I love to do and visit the charming Persephone Books, which has recently become a small chain with two outlets. And sorry guys, but this one is strictly for the girls.

Persephone Books

This independent publishing house specialises in decorative, arty, old, rare and overlooked books by female authors.

I heard about the retired publisher’s initiative from a bestseller author I once interviewed – and immediately bought the sweet 'Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day' (soon out as a movie), along with several other books all with bookmarks and covers made from iconic art patterns and designs.

Persephone Books

59 Lamb's Conduit Street London, WC1N 3NB. Tube: Russel Square or Holborn

109 Kensington Church Street London, W8 7LN. Tube: Notting Hill Gate or Kensington High Street

I will briefly mention the most reputed and hyped shoe brands Christian Louboutin and Manolo Blahnik, which are the shoes’ answer to Mozart. Shoe fashionistas flock to their temples.

Christian Louboutin is located on 23 Motcomb Street in Knightsbridge and Manolo Blahnik can be found on 49-51 Old Church Street in Chelsea. But I would rather suggest the far more charming designer, Tracy Neuls, who makes shoes with personality and humor, twisted toes and slanting heels. I went to her shop, TN29, with a colleague on research for an article on shoes and we each ended up spending all our money on a pair of ingenious red shoes. It was true love.

The shoes look like they’re straight out of a Harry Potter movie and costume designers from the film industry actually come here to borrow shoes for shoots. The shop is sometimes used for tiny theater productions at night. Tracy Neuls has two lines; one is expensive and the other more expensive!

TN 29, 29 Marylebone Lane, W1U 2NQ. Tube: Bond Street.

Extract from Karin Graabaek's book LONDON my love!, published by Gyldendal.

 

After a visit to the Columbia Flower Market, you just have to go to the Spitalfield Market. If you are pressed for time, just go for the latter. Here, I’ve sipped many a freshly crushed carrot juice with my friend, imagining that I was the one living here, shopping for tonight’s vegetarian dish.

Now that I’ve moved to London, I can go there as often as I like. However, I include this market in my book with a touch of remorse. Every time I go, modernization has taken another bite out of the soul of what used to be a creative hippie-Mecca. Instead of retro furniture and grass roots, the stands are now surrounded by glazed facades and chain stores.

Luckily, there is still expected to be room for old guitars, t-shirts with slogans and not least theme-Fridays with new artists and designers. The new market offers a gourmet theme every Thursday, Friday and Sunday. On Sundays, all the stands are open, so the hallways are packed. With or without facelifts, Spitalfield is a good starting point for an encounter with East End. And if you want to look at the bright side, the  modernization has made the whole area more accommodating.

Spitalfield Market, 105a Commercial Street, E1 6BG. Tube: Liverpool Street or Aldgate East.

By Karin Graabaek, extract from her travel guide LONDON my love!, published by Gyldendal.
 

The first time I heard a style-conscious shopper mention that she always went to the Dover Street Market, I just couldn’t figure out how I could have overlooked a whole market right in the most fashionable shopping area. I searched in vain for it too, until I realized that it is a six-story shopping mall organized as an indoor market.

In 2004, Japanese designer Rei Kawakubo created this raw and industrial place, dedicated to sophisticated, crazy, strange and absolutely fabulous design. It’s an almost bizarre experience to walk up the concrete stairs and open the door to the ”stands”.

The shop assistants walk around and look like installations or they sit in small huts located on every floor, where you can revel in new and different clothes from Raf Simons, Hede Slimane, Judy Blame and Alber Elbaz, Comme des Garcons, Lanvin and Dior and many more.

Dover Street Market, 17-18 Dover Street, W1S 4LT. Tube: Green Park.

By Karin Graabaek, extract from her travel guide LONDON my love!, published by Gyldendal.