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Thanks to its unique mixture of old-world charm and eclectic creativity, Berlin is a shopper’s paradise. The city becomes a veritable fashion capital during the exquisite fashion shows and events of the biannual Berlin Fashion Week, and trade events like Bread & Butter regularly encourage local and international designers to highlight their work in showrooms and boutiques here. From extravagant designer shopping malls and high-end fashion boutiques to artisan handcraft producers, antique markets, and vintage stores, Berlin has something for everyone.
The city’s history plays an important part in its geography. Because Berlin was divided by the Berlin Wall for so many years, there is no pedestrian zone or single city center like in many other European cities. Instead Berlin has many different areas to explore and pockets of retailers are spread throughout its neighborhoods.
The city’s most glamorous shopping can be done near Mitte’s Friedrichstrasse and in the West Berlin promenade Kurfürstendamm, known as the Shopping Mile and home to the luxurious Kaufhaus des Westens department store, as well as many designer and big name international brands. But the charming side streets around Mitte’s Torstrasse and Hackescher Markt have become a much more popular destination for shopping in the city, with chic designers opening up ateliers and concept shops.
For the fashionable bohemian set, designer labels have less appeal here than elsewhere. You’ll see many of the young and trendy favoring high-end street wear paired with vintage items that appear to have cost not much more than a Brötchen (bread roll). The eastern neighborhoods of Kreuzberg and Neukölln are home to a growing number of vintage and secondhand shops, and the city has a wonderful collection of flea markets that operate year-round. You’ll see modern influences of Berlin’s Bauhaus architecture movement in many of shops, incorporated into the store displays or as part of the home decor items. Near West Berlin’s charming Savignyplatz, the Stilwerk interior design center and surrounding design and home stores on Kantstrasse have become the design hub for the city. For shoppers looking for more price-conscious home furnishings, Neukölln offers several vintage furniture shops featuring Danish and Scandinavian home decor.
This tiny shop on Torstrasse is the flagship menswear outlet for designer Wibke Deertz, who uses fabrics and inspirations from her travels around the world to create a collection of handmade, limited-edition pieces, including pants, shirts, jackets, and accessories.
Berlin designer Andreea Vrajitoru creates experimental clothes and shoes with a casual vibe, supplemented by fashion from indie labels including Italian-based La Haine Inside Us and Latvian designer Keta Gutmane. There is also a branch in the Berlin Bikini mall.
Inside the former Taggespiegel newspaper office space, you’ll find this cool concept store featuring handpicked men's, women's, and children's clothing, including designs by brother Kostas Murkudis, Dries van Noten, and Christian Haas, as well as accessories and contemporary housewares. There's a second store with regularly rotating products set up like an apartment ( Potsdamer Str. 77).
Baerck artfully displays its mix of European and Berlin men's and women's wear on wheeled structures, allowing them to be rearranged in the store whenever necessary. Along with designers like Henrik Vibskov and Hope, you’ll find accessories including jewelry, handbags, scarves, and hats.
Peek under the railway tracks of Charlottenburg’s Savignyplatz station and you’ll find this much-loved bookstore. The large selection of books, many of them special editions or out of print, include numerous titles on art, design, and architecture, and the international offerings are extensive.
This living-room-like space is the go-to for sophisticated menswear with a British posh edge; you’ll find everything from tuxedoes to hunting jackets on their shelves. The owners manufacture their own line of quality British-style smoking jackets, and the inventory also includes top brands and small fashion accessories. There’s a small bar in the back, where you can toast your latest purchase in style.
Whether you want a new little black dress or a cool vintage bag to carry around this season, a peek into Das Neue Schwarz (The New Black) is guaranteed to result in some special finds. In the midst of Mitte’s fashionista neighborhood of avant-garde designers and exclusive boutiques, this shop holds its own with a collection of secondhand items—many never worn—from big-name designers including Vivienne Westwood, Helmut Lang, and Yves Saint Laurent.
Whether you're looking for something to read on the plane or a special present, this charming bookstore is guaranteed to have something to pique your literary interests. The wide selection of magazines and literature—many of the titles are in English—comes from around the world and spans fashion, photography, architecture, interior design, and cultural topics.
This small shop embodies traditional German liquor culture; there are schnapps and fruit brandies from family farms and independent distilleries for sale, among other items to pique a tippler's interest.
This elegant perfumery will help you create a completely personal scent; choose from vials filled with perfumes like acacia, linden tree blossoms, cedarwood, or pink peppercorns. All the perfumes are produced locally in Berlin, creating a really one-of-a kind gift.
Part playfully curated general store and part café, Hallesches Haus is inside a former post office turned nightclub turned shop. Expect to find terrariums, artfully designed gardening tools, Pendleton blankets, housewares, and gifts with a sense of humor.
If you want a taste—or rather, a smell—of old Berlin blended seamlessly with the new, head to Harry Lehmann. The shopkeepers have revitalized the old-time perfumery, which originally opened in 1926, keeping the more than 70 traditional fragrances and adding in a few covetable creations of their own.
The sleek, industrial flagship store of the Berlin-based luxury streetwear fashion mag carries of-the-moment clothing, accessories, perfumes, and housewares from both their own brand and the likes of Acne Studios and Dries Van Noten.
Since 2003, this Mitte hot spot has nurtured Berlin independent designers who are as visionary in their aesthetics as they are in their production mode: most items are handmade and sustainably sourced. Look for local favorite Anntian for women's dresses, and elegant necklaces by Naoko Ogawa.
One of the city’s best farmers' markets sits on the pretty Kollwitzplatz square in Prenzlauer Berg. During its smaller Thursday and bustling Saturday markets, you’ll not only find a superb selection of organic produce, meats, cheeses, and pantry items, but also an array of prepared foods and sellers offering handmade home goods and gifts.
Enter this serene shop next to the Literaturhaus and you'll be stepping into a world of high-quality loose-leaf teas. The stylish store displays its teas in museum-like cases, where you can smell the wares, and there are tasting areas where expert attendants brew and explain the teas. There is also a Mitte shop on Alte Schönhauser Strasse and an outpost in KaDaWe.
This charming concept store offers a large selection of locally designed clothing and accessories, all sustainable and inclusive, along with events including upcycling workshops and poetry readings.
With large glass windows looking out onto Warschauer Strasse and a minimalist interior, Shakespeare & Sons is the perfect place to get lost in another world. The shop sells a variety of English and French books from every genre, though there's a specific slant toward new books covering political topics. Inside, you'll find the Fine Bagels café.
This is a smaller Sunday market tucked on a neighborhood square in Prenzlauer Berg, but one that many locals say is Berlin’s best, especially for its wide selection of vintage and secondhand furniture, housewares, books, and records.
This "super boutique" in a former locksmith's workshop is a Berlin favorite for women’s and men’s separates, shoes, accessories, and outerwear, often from rare collections around the world. It's also home to Voo Deli, for when you need a shopping pick-me-up.
This third-generation artisan shop offers a taste of the old-world treat marzipan, using a family recipe that dates back to the turn of the 20th century. The vintage-style shop features candy-striped wall paper, vintage tools, and rows of handmade marzipan, all wrapped in delicate packaging.
This cool beauty shop offers an assortment of goods. You'll find everything from lovely scented candles to lotions and body products to makeup and cosmetics, with popular, ethical brands like Dr. Bronner, Börlind, and Susanne Kaufmann. But the real gem is the basement-level men’s spa and barbershop, which welcomes guest barbers from around the world, and the women’s beauty salon, which offers makeovers and hair care.
Inside a beautiful old building in the heart of Mitte's Hackescher Markt shopping district, 14 oz. sells high-end denim (Denham the Jeanmaker, PRPS, Edwin), along with sneakers, accessories, knitwear, and outerwear for both women and men.
This old-fashioned-style liquor store harkens back to the age of the green fairy—complete with antique wooden cabinets and vintage absinthe fountains—although the primary ingredient, thujone, is now strictly regulated in countries around the world. A friendly proprietor is on hand to help you choose which of the more than 100 different varieties you’d like to carry home.
The first German branch of this Australian luxury cosmetics label opened in 2013 in Mitte to the joy of many Berliners. The entire line of Aesop’s natural skin, hair, and body care products is sold here, in a lovely shop decorated with handmade jade-green tiles and a vintage 1950s farmhouse sink.
This gallery shop opened in the mall-like Hackesche Höfe shopping area in 2001, promoting the red and green Ampelmännchen, the charming symbol used on the former East German traffic lights. The brand now operates five shops in Berlin, and you can find the logo on everything from T-shirts and umbrellas to ice cube trays and candy. It's a perfect stop for souvenirs.
Most of Berlin’s flea markets operate year-round, regardless of the freezing winter temperatures, but this indoor hall offers some shelter inside an old warehouse near the Arena/Badeschiff complex on the Spree River. The weekend market features tables of kitchenware and rows of old bikes and mechanical parts, which can obscure the real treasures, so be prepared to spend some time digging.
A great place to look for designer secondhand finds, this tiny shop is tucked away near West Berlin’s Savignyplatz. You’ll find labels like Hermès, Versace, Chanel, and Jil Sander on the racks.
