News

This week, all roads lead to Bryant Park. It's New York Fashion Week, and magazine editors and department store buyers from around the world are previewing next spring's collections under the tents at Manhattan's garment district. But in between runway shows, they'll be sneaking off to their favourite shopping haunts.

One of these is the neighbourhood dubbed DUMBO, an acronym for “Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass.” In layman's terms, it's the new Meatpacking District or the new Park Slope — trendy neighbourhoods that offer a shopping and lifestyle mix. It features the high-meets-low mix one sees in so many gentrifying neighbourhoods — at one end, a 24-hour organic deli, Foragers, (56 Adams St.,Brooklyn; 718-801-8400; foragersmarket.com), at the other, a vintage carousel in a state of refurbishment.

But DUMBO has other charms. Its stores have a light-hearted feel and an anachronistic theme. Take Loopy Mango, which sells everything from a vintage dollhouse to tops from Clu, the latest trendy West Coast minimalist line (68 Jay St., Brooklyn; 718-222-0595; loopymango.com). Wonk, in spite of its name, carries simple, locally produced wooden furniture that is more likely to prompt showroom esteem than thoughts of Dr. Seuss (68 Jay St., Brooklyn; 788-596-8026; www.wonknyc.com). Prague Kolektiv (143 Front St., Brooklyn; 718-260-8013; praguekolektiv.com) has a furniture conceit that's not as far out as it seems — the neat, tweed-and-steel lines of “pre-war Czech avant-garde” has a lot to teach post-20th-century blasé style.

In spite of its design-consciousness, DUMBO is a comforting place. Perhaps it's the dreamy, shrunken feeling of walking among giant bridge supports.

Indeed, children are particularly well served here, whether it's at Pomme (81 Washington St., Brooklyn; 718-855-0623; www.pommenyc.com), which sells clothing and toys on a growing-up-in-France theme; or the factory of Jacques Torres (66 Water St., Brooklyn; 718-875-9772; www.mrchocolate.com), whose retail repertoire includes milk chocolate-covered Cheerios besides more “adult” dark chocolate-covered corn flakes.

If you don't have time to make it over the east river, TriBeCa offers another furniture/fashion mix, with a more established neighbourhood's slicker feel (and higher price points.) Stylish basics can be found at Steven Alan (103 Franklin St.; 212-343-0692; www.stevenalan.com), a fashion and lifestyle store along the lines of a hipster LL Bean, which offers button-down shirts, ruffled women's panties and velour sneakers for men, and this season's must-have skinny jeans by J Brand.

Down the street, Rogan Objects (91 Franklin St., 646-827-7554; www.roganobjects.com) is the new store of the designer Rogan, famous for doing a denim line, Edun, with U2's Bono and his wife, Ali Hewson. Most hipsters don't know that Rogan Gregory spent summers growing up in Ontario's cottage country. His furniture and fashion outpost is a relatively modest and “of the people” place, even if its rugged design and simple lines in dark wood are no less fashion-conscious.

Nearby R 20th Century (82 Franklin St.; 212-343-7979; r20thcentury.com), a classic New York design store, is currently a kindred spirit with a storefront that showcases a recliner chair based on the design of a canoe, with a woven seat and glossy armchairs carved from tree-trunks. It's pure Muskoka, but without the twee; in the heart of the city, it's the essence of forest and lake.

In the West Village, Helena Christensen's Butik is a delightful, eclectic shop that feels, well, like having a supermodel shop the world for cute clothing and housewares (605 Hudson St., 212-367-8014). In the Nolita neighbourhood, only a short cab ride away (it's assumed here that we're wearing heels), Zero Maria Cornejo is a thinking woman's answer to trends (225 Mott St.; 212-92503849; mariacornejo.com).

One of the buzziest fashion week shopping tips is neither exclusive nor high

end: TopShop, the British mass-market chain, is coming here. For the time being, a limited collection is carried at Opening Ceremony (35 Howard St., 212-219-2688). Its message, from over the sea, comes better late than never to NYC: that style can be cheap, ephemeral and —yes — still fly out the door.