san francisco

Filling a pie-shaped wedge on a sunny corner, Eden & Eden is devoted to goods from Britain, including Tatty Devine necklaces cast after giant zippers, Rococo teal goblets, and fluorescent yellow wallpaper reproductions of bus schedules. Even though the merchandise is all readily available in the U.K., the assortment is so spot-on that many of its online orders come from London-based clients.

One of the few independent boutiques that hang with the big boys over in Union Square (Neiman Marcus, Marc Jacobs, Chanel), this quietly low-key space peddles a stellar roster of citified labels: 3.1 Phillip Lim, Zero + Maria Cornejo, Isabel Marant, and Daryl K.

A small storefront belies the fact that Azalea is not only gigantic—but also houses an in-store spa. It's a long-standing establishment and a one-stop destination for everything from denim (there's a huge wall of it) to Comme des Garçons tops and Devotte boots.

Styled as a mini department store (it's the size of a closet but carries everything from beauty products to clothing to stationery and home goods), Doe espouses an adorable slightly French and slightly handmade aesthetic.

An acronym for Modern Appealing Clothing, this Hayes Valley stalwart (it opened its doors in 1980) has lost none of its edge. Landscaped with hundreds of plants, it reads like a lush botanical garden—an appropriately exotic backdrop for the avant-garde Tsumori Chisato dresses and bejeweled bug pins by Liberty, along with a scattering of options from local designers such as Dema and Ryan Roberts.