Kings Road
Head off to the West of Sloane Square (Square Tube: District, Circle Lines) down the manically busy King’s Road, which cuts right through the heart of Chelsea and ending up several miles downstream in Fulham (as the New King’s Road).
Famous in the fifties for its expresso bars, in the sixties for swinging London and the Georgie Best shop and in the seventies for Malcolm McLaren, Vivienne Westwood and Punk in the eighties for New Romantics, Tourist Punks and Wild Childs, King’s Road regained its chic in the nineties.
Nowadays Chelsea is home to antiques as much as boutiques, and though many of the shops (top end high street) are small versions of outlets in the West End it still has a finger on the pulse when it comes to designer stores, with the added bonus of being more laid-back than feel than rival areas.
Where is it?: Click here for map
Tube: South Kensington
Sloane Ave (Conran, Bibendum)
When you’ve had enough of the bustle of King’s Road go right, up Anderson Street toward Sloane Avenue (tubes: Sloane Square, South Kensington), a tree lined road that leads up to thee Bibendum or the Michelin Building, one of London’s best examples art deco architecture. Now the building is home to the Conran shop, a superb and eclectic mix of modern and classic designs for the household.
Several other stylish outlets are nearby including Joseph‘s London boutique. Just east of Sloane Avenue lies Walton Street, famous for its art galleries and antique shops. Why not have a cocktail at the buzzing urbanites hangout Nylons (on Sloane Avenue, opposite the Conran Shop) and then head up to Pelham Street back to South Kensington Tube.
