Shoreditch, London, England

This particular stretch of Rivington Street could easily be re-named Start Street, because this mini-empire of stand-out boutiques has colonized an entire stretch of Shoreditch. Start is arguably London's most accurate barometer of what's hip and effortlessly cool, offering a flawless mix of products that are both local (Christopher Kane dresses, Sophie Hulme totes, Cutler & Gross sunglasses) and from across the channel (Ancient Greek Sandals, Sonia by Sonia Rykiel dresses). It's not just for the ladies, either: Mr. Start carries some of the best dress shirts around.SHOP NOW >

The team at the avant-garde Late Night Chameleon Café (otherwise known as LN-CC), clearly have a healthy fascination with Japanese street style: The physical Shoreditch store, with its crazy, hard-to-find location and by-appointment-only rules, mimics hipster stores in Tokyo, and the men's and women's labels they stock are primarily ones you won't find anywhere else outside of Asia. But in between Yang Li's box tops (so Jil Sander!), and Toga's remarkably tailored cardigans are intellectually-slanted pieces like J.W. Anderson's boyish shirting and sleek heritage leather jackets—mostly all black.SHOP NOW >

Sharon Elphick, who runs the shop, creates the most startlingly beautiful photo-montage digital prints using floral or typographic motifs. (She also does one-off pieces.) On Sundays, her Shoreditch studio becomes a gallery, selling both her own work and an eclectic selection of works she loves from by artists from all over Europe. Bonus: every piece at Elphicks meets that gift-giving criteria of looking utterly unique and impressive, while secretly being friendly on the wallet (a lot of the pieces are under $100).SHOP NOW >

This is one of those wonderfully quirky British boutiques that's occupied by exquisite oddities that revolve around quintessentially English things like teacups, porcelain, and fancy dress. In short: Nothing is as it seems. Those artful, traditional-looking teapots by welovekaoru are sporting a pigeon's eye view of modern London, complete with CCTV cameras and traffic lights; and the wine glasses are musical instruments (yes, really!). The pieces that really stand out at Luna and Curious, though, are the plush false eyelashes—if you get within kissing-distance of them, you'll see that they're actually intricate paper cutouts in the shape of peach blossoms. For a selection so thoughtfully put together, the prices at this Shoreditch hotspot are super reasonable.SHOP NOW >