As anyone who has been to the city will know, Passeig de Gràcia is by some distance Barcelona’s standout high-fashion boulevard, with all the big hitters from Milan and Paris represented on the ground floors of its many magnificent Modernisme buildings. Away from the main thoroughfare, however, there are all kinds of brilliant boutiques offering tight edits of excellent clothes, some with a Catalan accent.
Thinking Mu
Carrer del Rosselló is home to a run of brilliant stores including the Danish furniture maker Carl Hansen and a Gimaguas store with an interior wrapped in concrete fabric. Best of the lot from a menswear perspective, however, is the Thinking Mu flagship store. The beautifully designed space has an understated, almost monastic quality but the clothes are anything but: think bright and poppy sweatshirts and high-concept cardigans, all of it very affordable and all produced in line with the Barcelona-based brand’s commitment to zero-waste manufacturing.
Carrer del Rosselló, 220 – thinkingmu.com
Kaotiko
Round the corner and housed in a historic building to rival any on Passeig de Gràcia, is the flagship store of another Barcelona-based brand, Kaotiko. Since 1999 they’ve been turning out their retro-minded streetwear and building a cult following in the city. Head there for oversized sweats with ’80s-esque chevrons on the sleeves and their signature suede sneakers.
Rambla de Catalunya, 54 – kaotikobcn.eu
Boo
Alex Molner opened Boo in 2006 and moved it to its current location on Carrer de Bonavista in Gràcia in 2012. On first glance, the interior is redolent of a London gentleman’s club with its dark walls, gilt-edged frames and hunting trophies on the wall. But a closer look reveals a joyously kitschy place with all kinds of amusing little Bambi trinkets and stag statuettes. There’s a tight edit of brands stocked including Peace from Portugal and Danton from Japan.
Carrer de Bonavista, 2, Gràcia – boobcn.com
OnLand
Husband and wife team Michele Gilli and Elena Castaudi have been running their multi-brand emporium, OnLand, for 30 years, 25 of them at its current location on Carrer de la Princesa in El Born. The majority of the clothes in the shop are from their own label, GorniKramer. Think gorgeously cut shirts, reflecting Michele’s past as a shirt designer for Zegna, and T-shirts block-printed in the back of the shop. But they also stock local brands including La Nansa from Maresme and Marcelinus, who make a woven jersey tops in Olot in the north of Catalonia.
Carrer de la Princesa, 25, Ciutat Vella – on-land.com
M69
M69 is a nicely put together menswear boutique in L’Eixample, a two-minute walk round the corner from La Flauta, which does one of the city’s best menús de los días. Expect a lively range of well-picked pieces: Veja sneakers, shirts from Portuguese brand La Paz, PLAY Comme des Garçons hoodies, Freitag bags. There is also a permanent outlet selling old stock at discount prices.
Carrer de Muntaner, 69, L’Eixample – m69barcelona.com
Trait
Barcelona is king when it comes to magnificent little micro-neighbourhoods; a few blocks of streets that contain everything you need for the good life. And the area around Carrer del Parlament in Sant Antoni is one of the best. The pedestrianised streets have been painted a jaunty yellow, cafés and bars abound and its home to one of the city’s best menswear boutiques – Trait. A compact but abundantly stocked boutique, Trait has an understated sensibility that’s reflected in the pieces it stocks, including by Danish brand Forét and Obey Clothing.
Carrer del Parlament 28, San Antoni – traitstore.com
David Annand is editorial director of Secret Trips
