4 Best Places to Shop in Argentina

These Argentine leather bowling sneakers and boxing-style boots are the heart and "sole" of retro. All the models are variations on a classic round-toed lace-up, but come with different-length legs. Plain black or chestnut uppers go with everything, but equally tempting are the two-tone numbers—in chocolate and orange, or black with white panels, for example. Even the store is a nod to the past, kitted out like a 1950s living room.

Local design hero Celedonio Lohidoy has created pieces—often with frothy bunches of natural pearls—for Kenzo and Emanuel Ungaro and his work has even been hung around Sarah Jessica Parker's neck on Sex in the City. He favors irregular semiprecious stones, set in asymmetrical, organic-looking designs such as butterflies and daisies. 

A fair-trade agreement links this luminous town house to a team of craftswomen in northwest Argentina who spin, dye, and weave the exquisite woolen goods sold here. Some of the handmade rugs, blankets, and throws follow traditional patterns and use only natural pigments (such as yerba mate or beetroot juice); others are contemporary designs using brighter colors. Packable souvenirs include sheep-wool table runners, alpaca scarves, and knitted cacti. Ask about designing your own rug.

Sunlight and the smell of solder fill the rooms of this old San Telmo house, which doubles as a store and open workshop for celebrity silversmith Marcelo Toledo. A huge silver mosaic of Evita gives away who Toledo's main muse is: he has created replicas of her own jewelry (he is the only silversmith authorized by her estate to do so) as well as pieces inspired by her. Eva Duarte Perón isn't the only crowd-pleasing politician Toledo's been associated with: a local magnate commissioned cuff links as an inauguration gift for President Obama. He also designed a mate gourd especially for Prince William and his bride, the Duchess of Cambridge.