Shopping in Brighton

The Lanes

The Lanes are a tightly knit maze of alleyways and winds that snake through Old Brighton. Jewellers, home ware stores and ye olde curiosity shoppes proliferate, and you could happily pass hours mooching around the narrow passageways. Duke Street, which strictly speaking isn’t really in the Lanes but might, at a push, be described as the gateway to the Lanes, is where the shops get rather more interesting. Check-out Offspring if you are in search of the perfect pair of trainers, while Woodies opposite is a designer menswear shop punting Kenzo, Versace and D&G clobber. Powell & Palmer offers slightly more traditional menswear and also has a good range of Penhaligons toiletries. Some of the Union Street highlights include Michael Rose Jewellery, Domus for funky retro home wears and Custard, where you will find a fantastic selection of greetings cards, coasters, fridge magnets and other quirky gifts.

North Laine

Bond Street couldn’t be more different from mainstream, humdrum North Street that it runs off, if it tried. This is the gateway to the North Laine and is where things start to get much more colourful and alternative. We kick off with Evolution, which is best described as a new age gift shop; incense sticks, wood carvings, crystals and yoga mats predominate. If skate wear floats your boat make for Route One where you will find labels such as Vans, DCShoeCoUSA et al. Gift and accessory shops are thick on the ground too: Tsensa has a heavy baby and wedding bent, while Velvet and the Lavender Room specialise in must-have girlie things. Yummies is a baby store, which alongside the usual array of baby gifts offers washable nappies, organic and fair trade toys and clothes – how very Be-right-on. For clothes try Hampstead Bazaar, which proudly flaunts its celebrity connections or Tribeca for a good range of designer labels such as: Isabel Marant, Paperdenim & Cloth, Buddhist Punk and Frost French. If you want a bespoke suit head to Gresham Blake, who has been kitting-out the men folk of Brighton in fine threads since 2002.

Western Road
There is absolutely nothing remarkable about the shops on Western Road, and there is certainly nothing particularly Brighton about them. Churchill Gardens is the obligatory shopping mall where stores like HMV and Virgin go head-to-head in the battle for your cash, and the rest of the street has nothing to distinguish it from any other high street in the British Isles. That said there are a couple of more interesting stores at the Hove end, such as I-Gigi and a cluster of rather upmarket furniture shops.