Shopping Shanghai

Executive summary by darmansjah

Nanchang’s New Groove; There’s plenty in store on this building Shanghai shopping street, by Amy Farish-Shi

Just one street back from the parade of luxury brand along Huaihai Road, Nanchang Lu retains an air of antiquated chic from its early 20^th-century French Concession days. Lined with overarching French plane trees and Art Deco lane houses, the friendly neighborhood is home to antique dealers, fruit sellers, and traditional medicine clinics. Fitting nicely into the eclectic mix are several funky boutiques that are starting to give Huaihai Road a run for its fashionista money.

Boutique 205 This new concept store may look like another hole-in-the-wall fashion outlet, but venture inside and discover three hip boutiques in one. Rifle the racks of cute casuals from Scandinavian label Frances-P, then continue inot the sunlit backroom where Roommate stocks an eclectic mix of imports from Japan and Korea, plus a well-priced bespoke men’s shirt service. Ascend the creaky wooden stairs to I prefer from Taiwan for one-off bohemian dresses crafted from hand-dyed silks and batik (205 Nanchang Lu; 86-212/3424-0336).

CHLOE-CHEN Near the intersection with Xiangyang Lu, the namesake boutique of Taiwanese fashion diva Chloe Chen is a one-stop shop for playful party outfits in retro fabrics. Complete your look with statement jewels and vintage hairpieces displayed in antique cabinets, and don’t forget the bright heels and ankle boots from Chens’s shoe label (174 Xiangyang Nanlu; 86-21/5465-7275l chloechen.com).

POP CLASSIC SNEAKERS PCS stocks a covetable collection of vintage Chinese footwear. Affable young owner Jacob Wang is keen to keep China’s plimsoll past alive. Along with cult sneaker brand Feiyue, you can find canvas Warrir sneakers favored by Chinese hipsters in the 1980s. Ospop models’ olive-green Jiefang Xie pumps, are available in a reenginereered utilitarian palette of cement, brick, and tobacco. China’s 3,000-year-old cotton kun-fu slippers also make a stylish comeback in the K-Fu range, with hand-seven soles and fashionable stripes or polka-dot designs (130 Nancahng Lu; 86/138-1757-1942).

LE GOUT DU TEMPS Tiptoe carefully through the stash of trinkets, home wares, and clothing in this endearing little bazaar. The owner sits in a corner kintting colorful coin purses with fancy clasps, which can be found tucked away on shelves throughout the sore (134 Nanchang Lu; 86-21/6402-0411).

S2VS Young Indonesian designer Sean William Salim is one of the street’s rising stars. Having grown up in Singapore and graduated from New York’s Parsons Scholl of Designe, Salim chose Shanghai as the base for his indie menswear brand S2VS. now sold in more than 30 stores worldwide, his petite flagship boutique occupies the enclosed garden courtyard of a heritage residendence. S2VS’s preppy looks feature sharp tailoring and edgy details like wooden buttons and flashes of colar sewn into pockets and collars. Price tags at a firaction of those in the New York store are an added draw (172 Nanchang Lu: 86/138-1671-2631;s2vs.com)