Nolita Shops

Rebecca Atwood is universally adored for her face-plant worthy textiles and somehow simultaniously elegant and playful patterns, which range from the prettiest pastel pinks to a rich spectrum of cobalt blues. An online operation for years, her new-ish Nolita store is the kind of place where time stops. As in, you walk in and get totally, blissfully lost in the beauty of the hand-dyed shibori bedding, the embroidered textiles, and the mountains of hand-sewn throwpillows—all handcrafted in family-owned factories in Portugal. It's impossible to leave empty handed, so don't say we didn't warn you.

Friends and designers Megan Papay and Cristina Palomo-Nelson know a thing or two about the kind of shoes women want to wear everyday. Enter Freda Salvador, a designed in California, made in Spain label that relies on top-notch Italian and Spanish leathers for its slip-on loafers, oxfords, and stacked heel boots. They’re the kind of shoes that just get better, softer, and even more loved the more you wear them. (One of our editors basically lives in the Keen Mule.) So it was only a matter of time before the Sausalito, California-based brand made things permanent on the East Coast. On a walkable stretch of Nolita with Clare V as its neighbor, FREDA’s minimal vibe is apparent the moment you walk into the bright, smartly appointed space that was designed in conjunction with their friends at COMO ID. The modern shelving keeps the focus on the shoes, but there are vintage rugs, plus old cobbler’s tools and lasts, which add visual interest. They have two other storefronts in SF and Culver City, where they share a space with milliner Janesse Leoné.

Cuyana has long been our go-to for small leather goods (shout-out to one particularly great Marie Kondo jewelry box collaboration). For their East Coast flagship, cofounders Karla Gallardo and Shilpa Shah took everything they knew from years of hosting pop-ups and created a pale-pink minimalist space. Visitors have the option of using small blocks shaped like laptops, water bottles, and cell phones to get a sense of a bag’s weight and look when it’s full of their personal items. There is also an in-store monogramming station—which is great if you’re in need of a quick, functional gift—and a well-edited clothing selection: silk camisoles, classic V-necks, and long, loose cardigans, all arranged by color.

For in-the-know New Yorkers, Sézane has been a kind of Parisian style Holy Grail. The laid-back French label pretty consistently check off all the sartorial boxes, best known for their thoughtful edit of lace blouses, stacked-heel boots, great jeans, and unfussy dresses. For their first US outpost, they've settled down in Nolita, where design inspiration comes straight from founder Morgane Sezalory's Paris flat complete with plush velvet seating, light wood floors, wraparound bookshelves, and lots of houseplants. (Bonus: there's a small café fueled by goop favorite Maman so you can sip your latte while you peruse the racks, or settle into the nook near the front with one of the many books on offer.)

This thoughtfully curated shop by ultra-modern Danish designer Han Kjøbenhavn (the name riffs on the traditional spelling of Copenhagen) is helmed by a welcoming, knowledgeable, very small staff with a helpful but no-pressure approach, which makes it a pleasure to shop the high-end casual menswear on offer. Their sunglasses, which are unisex, are all very cool, creative versions of timeless styles; it’s the carefully streamlined, yet still innovative aesthetic that gives the shop, and the clothes, something special.

Winnie Beattie and her husband Rob Magnotta wanted to carve out a little piece of paradise in the middle of Manhattan. And they kind of did it. As the name suggests, the vibes here are cozy and chill, combining elements of surf culture and a hippie, beachy lifestyle via men’s and women’s lines like Raquel Allegra, Kule, and The Elder Statesman. For home, there’s Coqui Coqui, Apothia, and Warm’s own collection of fragrances.

This contemporary watch brand only launched in 2012, but its Swiss-made timepieces—made with locally sourced leather wristbands from “Anglo-Swedish tanneries” and with hand-finished, premium metals—are already sort of legendary. Their Prince Street brick-and-mortar (there’s another on Bleecker Street in the West Village) constitutes an airy, whitewashed space with a gorgeously minimalist design, a.k.a. typical Scandinavia-chic, where you can try out their unisex collection of built-to-last timepieces.

The showroom, in the original Tiffany & Co. silver department building, is not only a stunning space, but it offers an encyclopedia array of hardware options from all styles and periods—they have the largest collection of hardware catalogs in the world. Along with their own gorgeous line, they also carry designer objects from Ted Muehling, Hella Jongerius, and Philip Crangi, a few of which they manufacture, too.

We head to Steven Alan for the perfectly tailored yet lived-in men's and women's shirting that comes in an endless variety of plaids and stripes. Beyond that, it's the relaxed mix of pieces from designers like A.P.C, Isabel Marant, Rachel Comey, that keeps us coming back. The outpost in Tribeca is the flagship and the original, though there are now locations scattered around the city. They've recently opened a home goods shop, too.

With top-notch surf beaches in Rockaway and nearby Jersey, New York is something of a surfer's destination, though you wouldn't think it in the middle of Manhattan on Crosby Street. And this brand of casual men's clothing, from t-shirts and shorts to lived in sweatshirts for wearing post-surf, is a kind of destination in itself. Guys come to lust over the surfboards, the photographs by young artists displayed on the walls, and stay for an espresso at the in-house bar. There's now a location in the West Village, too.