Shopping in London

London shops as it governs: by institution. St James's and Jermyn Street hold the oldest continuous retail lineage on earth — hatters since 1676, wine since 1698 — and the walk to Savile Row is a syllabus in how the English dressed the world.

The walk: London — St James’s to Savile Row — 3.5 hours.

The walk: London — Marylebone & Chiltern Street — 3 hours.

Tiered houses of London

• Drake's ORBIS Pick
  London's modern classic — ties that revived the genre, and easy oxford-cloth shirting with soft rolls. drakes.com
• Anderson & Sheppard ORBIS Pick
  Savile Row's soft-tailoring legend — the 'dressmaker' of the Row. Bespoke shirts with one-piece collar available on commission. anderson-sheppard.co.uk
• Bates Heritage House
  Jermyn Street hatters since 1898 — trilbies and panamas from London’s gentleman quarter Now housed within Hilditch & Key at 73 Jermyn Street. hilditchandkey.shop
• Christys' London Heritage House
  Hatmakers since 1773 — bowlers, panamas and the oldest hat house still blocking. christys-hats.com
• Dover Street Market Icon
  Rei Kawakubo’s beautiful chaos — the concept store where Comme, streetwear and couture collide. doverstreetmarket.com
• Foster & Son Heritage House
  London’s oldest bespoke shoemaker (1840) — Jermyn Street lasts of aristocratic quiet. foster.co.uk
• G.J. Cleverley Heritage House
  The Cleverley shape — chisel-toed bespoke for Churchill then, connoisseurs now. georgecleverley.com
• Harrods Icon
  The Knightsbridge palace — 330 departments, Egyptian escalators and luxury retail’s most famous doors since 1849. harrods.com
• Huntsman Heritage House
  Savile Row’s one-button power — Kingsman’s inspiration, hunting-pink heritage since 1849. huntsmansavilerow.com
• James Purdey & Sons Heritage House
  London gunmaker (1814) and sporting brand — shotguns, rifles, and a full country clothing line. Part of Richemont. purdey.com
• John Lobb Icon
  Paris bespoke bootmaker (1849) with Northampton RTW — part of Hermès. The 7000 last and the William double-monk are icons of masculine elegance. johnlobb.com
• Liberty London Icon
  The Tudor-revival treasure house of 1875 — Liberty florals, artisan fabrics and the most beautiful timber-framed shop on earth. libertylondon.com
• Lock & Co Hatters Heritage House
  St James’s hatters since 1676 — the world’s oldest shop, Nelson’s bicorne and the Coke hat’s birthplace. lockhatters.co.uk
• Selfridges Icon
  Harry Gordon Selfridge’s 1909 theatre of retail — the Oxford Street innovator that invented shopping as entertainment. selfridges.com
• Swaine Adeney Brigg Heritage House
  London luxury leather goods since 1750 — whips, umbrellas, and bridle leather accessories. The oldest luxury leather brand in the world. swaineadeney.co.uk
• Baziszt Hidden Gem
  London-Moroccan craft label — hand-loomed jackets and souk-dyed shirting. baziszt.com
• Fortnum & Mason Icon
  The Queen’s grocer since 1707 — eau-de-nil hampers, the clock where Mr Fortnum and Mr Mason bow to each other on the hour, and a food hall that invented the Scotch egg for coaching fortnumandmason.com
• Berry Bros. & Rudd Heritage House
  Britain’s oldest wine merchant, 1698 — the great coffee scales that weighed Byron and Beau Brummell still in the shop, two royal warrants, cellars running under St James’s. bbr.com
• Daunt Books Icon
  The 1912 Edwardian bookshop with oak galleries and skylights — travel books shelved by country, arguably the most beautiful bookshop in the world. dauntbooks.co.uk
• La Fromagerie Hidden Gem
  The walk-in cheese room of London — raw-milk wheels ripened on site; ask, taste, be converted. lafromagerie.co.uk
• VV Rouleaux Hidden Gem
  A theatre of ribbons, trims and millinery flowers — walls of grosgrain and velvet by the metre; costume designers’ open secret. vvrouleaux.com
• Paul Rothe & Son Heritage House
  Family deli since 1900 — jams in white coats, sandwiches made by Rothes for four generations; London’s gentlest institution. paulrotheandson.co.uk
• John Simons Hidden Gem
  The man who brought Ivy to Britain and named the Harrington jacket — modernist menswear scripture since 1955. johnsimons.co.uk
• Mouki Mou Hidden Gem
  Chiltern Street’s quiet concept house — clothing, jewelry and objects chosen with one impeccable eye across three intimate floors. moukimou.com
• Trunk Clothiers ORBIS Pick
  The shop that made Chiltern Street a menswear address — the best of Japan, Italy and Scandinavia edited into one calm room. trunkclothiers.com