Berlin - Chic Boutique for fashon-set

"Berlin’s department store for the chic-set"
- Angela Trotz, Editorial Review Author

Former-Communist shopping street gets architectural makeover

The Place:

Departmentstore Quartier 206

The Scene:

Friedrichstrasse has always been one of the premiere shopping streets in Berlin, even during the DDR-days when it was a member's only club for proletariat elite. The street has since been revitalized and is now open to all, providing you don't mind paying top-Euro for imported Italian and French designers set up in individual boutiques that make up the department store. The structure, a play on black-white marble intersected by skylights, was designed by I.M. Pei Partners (think: Louvre Pyramid) and is conveniently built next to Galeries Lafayettes, the upscale French department store.

JetSet Tips:

Be sure to stop into the designer outlet in the basement, called %, where seasonal merchandise is sold at great discounts.

Last Word:

Professional shoppers and fashion groupies wander between boutiques by fashion Etro, YSL, Gucci and Valentino. Not limited to just fashion, the store features several home designers, flowers, arts, books and a full-service restaurant. Many foreign visitors are surprised at how few shoppers are found in many of Berlin’s upscale boutiques. A layover of reunification, the city still faces unusually high unemployment and displacement from the Euro-conversion in 1999.