Graanmarkt 13: shop, luxury apartment, art gallery and restaurant in one
NATIONALSTRAT
The cathedral's bell towers are reflected in the shop windows of Het Modepaleis. These are the few seconds of glory that traditional monuments can have on this street, the axis of fashion in the city. This store has become an icon and a benchmark, and not only because it is a delicate Art Nouveau building. Here is the mother house of Dries van Noten, one of the city's creators and a member of those 'Antwerp Six' who in the 1980s put this city on the ever-complex world fashion map.
This temple is the starting point of a narrow path that bets heavily on design and quickly reveals its Fashion Museum , the place to patiently exhibit different currents, artists and fashion collections. The room where, in a certain way, all the ideas that flow through the catwalks of the planet are solidified. Starting from this emblematic corner, a route is traced where the windows of the boutiques alternate with conventional shops. A must-stop is the little shoe store owned by ** Elsa Proost ** ('ex' professional at Van Noten and Margiela), the wonders of Lila Grace or the most hipster optician in Belgium: ** e.blondé **, where to try on glasses is to travel to a planet of nostalgia and desires.
In the vicinity of the Nationalstraat (and clearly influenced by his style) stands out the charming Vrijdagmarkt square with its Vrijdagmarkt 13 only for men or the risky store of stephan schneider in Reynederstraat.
Exhibition 'Living Fashion'
KLOSTERSTRAAT
If a street is capable of summarizing the commercial history of this city, it is Klosterstraat . Here the antique shops are not only still the queens, but on top of that they have managed to attract modern audiences (maybe because old is always in fashion ) . Its sidewalks are crowded with old junk while its shop windows give way to aisles with overbookings of antiques in which it is impossible not to fall into voyeurism.
Its essentials are 46Klosterstraat and its small museum of 20th century design; almost prehistoric books Erik Tonen , the essential furniture of Parazaar , the flourishes of Interior Different , the Tita Flying rugs, the modernities of Hot and Cold or Loft Styles, or the irresistible surprises of Woodstock. That without stopping falling into those little shops with a stimulating horror vacui like Chelsea or Koethuis.
If you like to discover treasures, Interieur Différent is your place
BY WILDE ZEE
East pedestrian oasis and terracero in the city center is, of course, another focus for relaxed shopping. The name is taken from an old spring that caused small floods (in Spanish, wilde zee is wild sea) but today this area is governed by the pavement, the parks and the trees. At the vertex formed by the streets Wieg, Groendal, Schrijnwerker, lombarden Y Korte Gasthuis the most universal firms alternate with boutiques such as ** Anna Heylen **, Acne, De Groene Wolk (for the little ones) or Louis, the first establishment that opted for the Antwerp Six . And all in an environment that is not very greedy, quiet and with thousands of small restaurants that invite you to relax after purchase.
The creativity of the Maison Anna Heylen conquers
SCHUTTERHOFSTRAAT
Antwerp golden mile not just any golden mile . And that is saying. This accumulation of luxury firms has also been influenced by the Antwerp brand, the one that sophisticates and individualizes everything it touches. Here the most universal luxury brands coexist with genuinely Antwerp or Belgian establishments making a perfect mix that perfectly sums up the meanings of the word ' exclusive ’. And it is that to the Gucci, Hermes or Jimmy Choo on duty we must add outstanding stores such as DVS where to admire (and if so, buy) designs by Van Beirendonck, Dirk VanSaene –owner of the initials-, Raf Simons, Veronique Branquinho or ** Sofie d'Hoore **. An establishment without ostentation but perfect , capable of shining without shop windows, located on the first floor of a bourgeois building made of wood and plaster.
The dishes of the restaurant Graanmarkt 13 could almost be exhibited in its gallery
Other proper names of the Schutterhofstraat and surroundings are Delvaux , the most important luxury leather goods firm in Belgium, Coccodrilo and its brilliant shoes, Essentiel or the multidisciplinary Graanmarkt 13 , a brutalist space capable of being a shop, a luxury apartment, an art gallery and a restaurant at the same time.
MEIR
The confirmation that Antwerp is a suitable city to buy is the meir street . Apparently it is the classic great commercial artery where the firms that They make August with twentysomethings thirsty for novelties . But, despite the laziness (or not) that can generate such a global brand, it's worth sneaking into their outfits to find beautiful shops that occupy the best floors of the Ensanche de Antwerp. The climax is, without a doubt, the Stadsfeestzaal , the old dance hall of the region converted into a shopping center. Or what is the same, enter to dance a minuet to end up buying like a Cossack. Incomparable.
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Graanmarkt 13 always hides surprises