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London Insider : Angel

In complete contrast to the last London Insider on Hoxton and Shoreditch (24/08), we take a stroll around the Angel Islington, an area bubbling under with stylish boutiques, cosy eateries and gorgeous vintage.

The highlight of any trip to Angel is the quaint Camden Passage, a narrow alley hidden behind the main road teaming with antiques, thrift stalls and vintage clothing. Shock and Soul is a new arrival on the strip stocking a younger selection compared to the other grandmother’s closet style stores. Cloud Cuckoo Land and Annie’s Vintage Costume and Textiles are two of our favourites brimming with precious antique laces, twinkly twenties frocks and covetable footwear.

The relatively undiscovered area is definitely attracting a younger, hipper crowd with the recent opening of bars like Playtime – an art-cum-performance-cum-drinking venue which gets a complete strip down and overhaul every four months by a selected artist and also Keston Lodge – an alternative take on the stuffy country club.

H&M has opened up only this week and joins the ‘smarter side’ of the high street retailers, which include All Saints, Reiss, French Connection and Whistles. The opening of unisex Diverse has really upped the ante stocking premium labels from Maison Martin Margiela, Future Classics and Isabel Marant. In the same ilk, the Albam boutique offers ultra-cool yet timeless menswear. An Angel favourite, Cop Copine ‘yes we do mainly black but we do black very well’ does just that! We expect the arrival of these destination boutiques means promising things to come for Angel.

Next Stop…Soho