Voulez Vous
“By picking up a small, niche designer, you base your choice on your taste and sense of style, not marketing,” says Stella Tang, director and buyer for this boudoir-style shop. Voulez Vous often stocks avant garde designs, or things that are not considered mainstream in Hong Kong, including bold pieces from lesser-known designers such as Belle Sauvage, Daydream Nation and Plotz. There are also whimsical pieces from the London-based Yang Du. Tang’s buying philosophy is simple: “Something that makes my heart skips a beat.” She explains that when you look at fashion every day, it takes something very innovative, even shocking, to make an impact. Tang travels at least once a month to visit new designers around the world, from Thailand, Japan and Korea to Berlin and London. Most of their items have only ten pieces in stock, and often just one for the more exhibitionist styles. “If there’s unexpected demand, we might consider re-ordering, but we’ll never flood the streets with one thing. That’s just not cool,” says Tang. The shop’s price tags might make the average shopper raise an eyebrow, but they’re not so unreasonable for statement-making pieces. The shop is also a haven for local celebrities such as Sammi Cheng and Joey Yung, who strive to avoid a career-jeopardising clothes-clash with their Cantopop rivals. Shop 4, G/F, 3 Yiu Wa St, Causeway Bay, 2806 2616. (Image 1, above)

Ming Kee Shoes
Shoes here are hand-made for the likes of Jackie Chan, Joey Yung, and the late Leslie Cheung. Like them, you’ll have to put your feet down for Mr Lock, the 73-year-old shop owner and shoemaker, to trace the shape. The shop is tiny and messy, with scraps of crocodile skin, laces and wooden heels everywhere. The shoemakers, all with over 50 years of experience, nip and tuck the leather with rudimentary tools and hence a pair takes around three weeks to make and deliver. A pair of leather-soled Oxford brogues cost $1,600; a remake of the Christian Louboutin-Lesage range costs $1,800, including all the embroidery work. After the owner retires, the shop will be no more, so go and get a few pairs made as soon as you can. G/F, 30 Bowring St, Austin, 2730 4815.

Good Old Days
Almost more like a museum than a shop, Good Old Days has more than 700 vintage watches (made between 1910 and the 1990s) on display. “Most watches are from the 50s, as this is the age when the technique for mechanical watch-making took a big leap from the previous years,” explains Mr Szeto, the chatterbox owner of the shop. “At the same time, these watches retain that classical look about them. A good vintage watch doesn’t have to be old – the technology for manufacturing watches in the 10s or 20s wasn’t good enough, so they don’t really work perfectly. What’s the point with wearing a watch that can’t tell time?” Out of every 100 vintage watches that Szeto sources from countries such as Argentina and Japan, only two to three get to be restored by technician Mr Fu, who started his career as an apprentice 40 years ago. Szeto explains the pedantic restoration approach he demands for the watches that the shop sells: “We dismantle the watch, cleanse the mechanics and lubricate every part thoroughly. After the process, our time-lapse tolerance for a vintage watch is two minutes.” Old watches need to be wound every day to tell the exact time, and the time lapse refers to the accuracy of the watch after a day. A good condition vintage watch, by Christie’s definition, has a time lapse of two minutes. “A perfectionist purchased a 1930 Patek Phillipe from us, which was worth $120,000. He wasn’t pleased with the three minute lapse. I told the customer, ‘I’ll take the watch back, it’s not fair to the watch if the you can’t give the love it deserves.’” Mr Szeto’s favourite is the un-restored Galaxy mystery dial, co-manufactured by Jaeger-LeCoultre and Vacheron Constantin, where two diamonds act as the hour and the minute hand ($30,000). Shop P408A, 4/F, World Trade Centre, Causeway Bay, 2116 0088. (Image 2)

Ballet
The clothes rails are never over-stocked here, and clip on labels on the rail describe the background of the items’ designer. The shop takes into account Hong Kong’s hot weather, and stocks an appreciable number of printed silk/cotton items. Ballet also does exclusive collaborations with new designers such as Natthakur, whose piggy bank coin purse is priced at $360. Manoush of Paris is a highlight here, particularly the strategically placed sequins that form a colourful map of Europe on a back zipped dress. G/F, 63 Wellington St, Central, 2868 3862. (Image 3)

Liger
The boss here is Hilary Tsui, the fashionista in Hong Kong who has popularised the MBT comfort shoe ($1,980) as a fashion trend. Liger’s own designs, Oh My God, feature strong shouldered T-shirts and harem tracksuit bottoms. Dutch funkiness and city chic also pervades the store: brands include KTZ, Natascha Stolle, Nozomi Ishiguro, shoes from Camilla Skovgaard and many more. 1/F, 11 Pak Sha Rd, Causeway Bay, 3483 3948.

Linva Tailor
All cheongsams worn by Maggie Cheung in Wong Kar-wai’s seminal In The Mood for Love were custom-made here. Leung Ching-wah, the shop owner and tailor, took up an apprenticeship when he was just 12 with Hong Kong’s most esteemed cheongsam tailor, Mr Wan (whose Central atelier is now closed). Forty-five years on and the cheongsams are still being made with the most considered dedication: seams are hand sewn and macrame buttons are hand knotted. “There’s no point in making a cheongsam if it’s not made in the most traditional way, no point in making it if it’s not the most beautiful,” says Leung. Ready-made cheongsams cost around $2,000, while it takes a week to make alternations on the dress and three months for bespoke dresses (from $3,000). You can also supply your own fabrics. 38 Cochrane St, Central, 2544 2456. (Image 4)

Moustache
The ready-to-wear counterpart of the bespoke tailor j.a.daye has Hong Kong’s notorious weather in mind when crafting menswear designs. Their cotton suit jacket ($2,100) adopts a minimalist construction, and is machine washable. All apparel, including their leopard-print swimming bottoms ($599), are tailored the Savile Row way. Ask the shop owner what thoughtful details he has subtly added to each and every item. 31 Aberdeen St, Sheung Wan, 2541 1955. (Image 5)

DYOS
Design Your Own Shoes sells women’s shoes for all occasions, and the plush shop displays about 100 pairs of ballerinas and heels for the season. But unlike other shoe boutiques, anything on the shoe can be altered to meet your needs: the height or shape of the heel, material, and width of the shoe. You can even stud the entire exterior with diamante. Alteration takes a month, but if you see something you like you can also take them home straight away. For example, a pink pair of patent leather pointy toes in block heels, Louis Vuitton 2010 FW style, is going for $780. 1/F, 33 Yiu Wa St, Causeway Bay, 2204 3043.

Kniq
Buyer Asai, a Paris and London educated fashionista, sources new designs from around the world and stocks the shop’s white bamboo rails with eclectic, showy pieces. Make a trip here to pick up Danish designer Max Jenny’s psychedelic printed rain cape ($3,680) or House of Holland’s T-shirts. The pieces are usually one-offs with only one or two sizes. New stock arrives every month. Flat 4B, Vienna Mansion, 55 Paterson St, Causeway Bay, 2881 7903.

Voodooist Eye
Working-class style from the last century is reinvented in this quirky store selling new and vintage items. The decor is all red wrought-iron bunk bed, barber’s pole and wooden school chairs. The half of the shop that is located on raw wood flooring sells tailored items in the style of American Apparel (a harlequin spandex dress is going for $399). There are also Margaret Thatcher-style handbags and 1970s sunglasses. Vintage jeans and T-shirts are placed on a children’s bed, which is shaped like a miniature pirate boat. 2/F, Hollywood Hse, 27-29 Hollywood Rd, Central, 2986 6368. (Image 6)

Select 18
Find four hours in your day to pay a visit to this vintage shop which is filled so full with consignment clothes, shoes, bags, old trunks and jewellery that there is barely anywhere for customers to walk. The back of the shop has an old hairdresser’s chair, and shop owner Thomas does haircuts in store for $200 up. Spectacles fanatic Mido sells sunglasses from the 1920s in an illuminated cupboard. Johnny Depp is never seen without a pair of Moscot glasses – they are stocked here. Shop A, G/F, Grandview Garden, 18 Bridges St, Sheung Wan, 9127 3657. (Image 7)

Sashay
A wide selection of occasion hats and head pieces fit for a summer wedding or an outing to the National Racing Day at the Jockey Club are available on a one-off basis here. The shop also does self-designed cloche hats studded with Swarovski crystals ($3,800) and jazz hats in different shapes and knits of straw, from $1,200. Flat 3B, Vienna Mansion, 55 Paterson St, Causeway Bay, 2480 0198.

Vintage HK
This Camden Market-style vintage shop sells clothes, shoes and sunglasses from the past 20 years. There are Bally and Chanel bags from $880, and lampshades from the 1960s onwards sell for $1,000 and up. New apparel (vintage style) and Feiyue sneakers are also
on sale. G/F, 57-59 Hollywood Rd, Central, 2545 9932. (Image 8)

Remy Fashion
A miniature version of TVB’s costume department, this shop is quite literally filled from front to the back, floor to ceiling, with some 6,000 costumes and accessories, from a Brazilian carnival headdress ($298), and a veiled lady’s hat ($99) to bejeweled glasses. They have ready-to-wear burlesque outfits, sequined dresses in the style of Christophe Decarnin for Balmain (from $300) and Lady Gaga-style body suits. They also make costumes to order as long as a photograph is supplied. Fancy a full length medieval maid’s dress? It’s yours for only $600. Orders take up to two weeks to be delivered. G/F, 24 Li Yuen St West, Central, 2524 8847.

See the other best independent shops in:

Home Furnishings

Food

Hobby

Books

Others