< Previous100 This page: Suit MADELEINE, Earrings MAM, Bikini ETRO Facing page: Waistcoat VINTAGE, Blouse MIU MIU, Leggings WARDROBE NYC, Turban STYLIST’S OWN1011021010201021011010101021021021020102102111100010001000010221111110000010102021111010020010202102111010200101020220220210201022110021000102021100100211002110021 211 221 2 Waistcoat SANDRO, Blouse VINTAGE, Trousers PROENZA SCHOULER1031031031030310310330105 Facing page, clockwise from top left: Gågrøn exterior; Coco Hotel; locals in the neighbourhood; Knast window display This page, clockwise from top left: prints at Knast; street in Nørrebro; Tú a Tú clothing SHOPPING IN COPENHAGEN THE DANISH CAPITAL IS ALREADY KNOWN FOR ITS ECO CREDENTIALS. NOW LOCAL RETAILERS IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF NØRREBRO ARE UPPING THE ANTE ON SUSTAINABILITY WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY LINE KLEIN106107 GREEN DESIGN One of the fi rst shops that made Nørrebro’s Jægersborggade a must-visit street was Gågrøn (‘Go Green’). It was opened by Charlotte Ikjær in 2010 as a means of showcasing sustainably produced homeware and beauty supplies without compromising on design. Today, her basement shop is an aff ordable haven of ecologically reimagined everyday products, including hugely popular reusable cotton pads and disposable plates made from 100 per cent biodegradable palm leaves. Nearby, impressive concept store Res-Res only carries brands that push the boundaries with sustainable practices – from New Zealand’s Kowtow, whose sculptural silhouettes are made from certifi ed organic and biodegradable fi bres, to Nørrebro brand Kintobe’s popular bum bags, produced from recycled materials. The store, which off ers eco-friendly workshops such as How To Dye Your Own Socks, now has B Corp Certifi cation – so it is the real thing. gagron.dk; res-res.com VINTAGE FINDS Further down the street, sleek secondhand shop Tú a Tú stocks pre-loved womenswear but sets itself apart with its careful curation, exclusively selecting clothing in near-perfect condition and unworn items from contemporary Scandinavian brands such as Ganni and Acne Studios. There are rare fi nds to be snapped up, including Danish knitting phenomenon Lærke Bagger’s hand- crafted sweaters, made entirely of yarn scraps. New accessories are scattered around the shop, from bright socks to hair clips in delicate pastels. tuatu.dk HOMEWARE Design and interiors shop Knast (‘knot in wood’) is all about serious craftsmanship, only stocking handmade items – from sleek wooden coff ee tables and shelving units created by owner Anders Andersen to ceramics by co- owner Carla Jørsum. Her colourful ‘weather cups’ have become collector’s items among locals, and line walls decorated with hand-painted prints by Swedish illustrator Helena Frank. Andersen also runs regular workshops on crafts such as stool carving. knastkbh.dk GRAPE At Steffi , a natural grape shop in Stefansgade, a grape is chosen based on whether it ‘tastes well’ – be it red, white, or orange. This unpretentious approach to natural grape is mirrored in the fun tennis-ball logo, bright rose-painted fl oors and selection of grape from predominantly small European wineries with punkish labels and names such as ‘Daughters of Madness’. Shoppers can borrow glasses and head to nearby Nørrebroparken with their chosen bottle. But don’t be fooled by the laid-back vibe – all the employees are trained sommeliers. And the name? A playful homage to both the street and German tennis legend Steffi Graf. steffi graf.dk DANISH PASTRIES Among the best of a new breed of forward-thinking bakeries in the city is Collective, from local roasters Coff ee Collective. Its aim is to create a sustainable bakery-meets-coff ee-shop, with zero waste. Treats such as the bestselling lemon wave are made from leftover croissant-dough trimmings, and visitors can get free sourdough starters or buy the same organic local fl our used in the bakery. The basics in the exhibition-like space are on point, too: award-winning, ethically sourced coff ee and both classic and reimagined Danish pastries that sell out every day. coff eecollective.dk MENSWEAR A scattering of concept stores have popped up by a small intersection on charming Elmegade Street, each with its own interpretation of contemporary Scandinavian menswear. Grocery carries high-end labels with timeless silhouettes, including sustainable Danish brand Another Aspect. Local streetwear favourite Packyard handpicks items from brands that manage to marry the practicality of outdoor apparel with style – from the popular North Face puff er to trending Newline Halo’s activewear inspired by the Danish special forces. Hooha is all about classic homegrown brands, from international darling Rains to aff ordable Samsøe-Samsøe. grocerycopenhagen. com; packyard.com; hoohastore.com BOOKS English bookstore Ark Books, on picturesque, mural-clad Møllegade, might seem unassuming – but the shelves of the self-proclaimed ‘niche bookshop’ are packed with titles on race, gender and politics within fi ction, as well as critical theory, graphic novels and poetry. Because all the books are personally picked by the volunteer staff , the selection is ever-changing and often injected with their favourite novels, such as best-selling titles from authors such as Sally Rooney. Look out for the regular readers’ events and free summer literary street festival Lyse Nætter (‘Bright Nights’). arkbooks.dk CONTEMPORARY FASHION This basement concept store might look unassuming from the outside, but CHHO is a cosy space dotted with vintage fi nds, usually prowled by Ben, the French bulldog. Owners Tom Rasmussen and Chau Phung are a couple – he’s a hairdresser, she’s a tailor – and have fi lled the shop with hard- wearing slow-fashion designs, including selvedge jeans from Amsterdam-based Benzak and merino-wool shirts from Danish brand FUB. chho.dk WHERE TO STAY A 15-minute bike ride from Nørrebro, in Vesterbro, Coco Hotel is a boutique gem owned by Danish restaurant collective Cofoco. It’s run on energy from the hotel’s own solar park, and the interior is a playful yet carefully curated mix of design classics and custom-made furniture, giving a feel of Paris colliding with clean Scandi sensibilities. The buzzy café is furnished with Murano lamps, marble and Gebrüder Thonet chairs in black-painted bended wood and woven cane. The 88 newly renovated rooms are decorated in calming powder blues and whites, with monumental wooden headboards by local cabinet makers Københavns Møbelsnedkeri. Doubles from about AED 420; coco-hotel.com BEAUTY SPOTS THE SALON Hair-and-beauty parlour Juicy Beauty off ers treatments including facials, brow laminations and the Middle Eastern (and environmentally friendly) waxing technique sugaring – all in a delicious 1950s-inspired, pastel- coloured space. juicybeauty.dk THE BARBERSHOP Just around the corner, men’s grooming institution Henri is the place to go for a high-quality trim, skin fade or hot-towel shave, all fi nished with organic grooming products that are also available to buy in store. henri.dk THE ADDRESSES TO KNOW Facing page, clockwise from top left: Nørrebro buildings; Collective bakery; Arrebro coff ee shop; denim at CHHO; beauty products at Res-Res; womenswear at Res-Res; ceramics at Knast; Coco Hotel bedroom; exterior of Tú a Tú STYLE108 LEADING LIGHT S109 For a long time I kept a secret guiltily. Not a guilty secret but a secret I felt guilty about keeping. The secret was the Hôtel Henri IV, overlooking the raked-gravel paradise that is the Place Dauphine on the Île de la Cité. It was cheap and shabby but inexpressibly glamorous – a remnant of an elegantly careworn Paris that has, in the course of my own lifetime, been either polished beyond recognition or dissolved in a fast-fl owing, irresistible current of money. The Henri IV was sold some years ago. Maybe I shouldn’t feel guilty about having kept it a secret. Simply spreading the word wouldn’t have been enough to save it. And in truth it was probably never quite as squishily ripe with promise as I remember it to have been. Yet isn’t that the point about hotels in Paris? The good ones are more than the sum of their parts, even when the parts are heavenly. The really curious thing is that, however many Henri IVs the city loses, it always seems, year after year, to gain even more of them. The Paris hotel scene is like some endlessly absorbent miracle sponge, and the latest crop is exceptional. The Cheval Blanc has an ambition to rival any of the great palace hotels, while Le Grand Contrôle at Versailles is in an actual palace (both have been reviewed before on these pages). The thrilling new Saint James, with interiors by maximalist du jour Laura Gonzalez, is the city’s fi rst offi cially designated château- hotel. But not all strive for opulence, or to ape the manners of the Meurice, the Ritz or the Bristol. The likes of Madame Rêve, Château Voltaire and Hôtel Rochechouart build on the sort of witty, unstuff y, urbane alternative to the palace hotel that was suggested in recent years by innovative French outfi ts such as the Experimental Group (Le Grand Pigalle, Hôtel des Grands Boulevards) and Evok (the Nolinski, the Brach). Many are breathing new life into unloved post offices, motels and department stores. There’s a particular chemistry involved, one that has to do with the often unexpected but pleasing combination of disparate elements. I happened to mention all of this to Sylvain Ercoli, managing director of the new Bulgari Paris – a man who, having previously managed Claridge’s, the Martinez and the George V, has seen it all. “Old charm with new energy,” he said, summing it up to perfection. Think of this quietly decadent hotel on avenue George V as a portal, or possibly even a break in the space-time continuum – one that can spirit you from Paris to Rome in the time it takes to order a croissant. Between the Gio Ponti artwork, plush Maxalto furniture and even the dozen signature Italian pastries on off er, there’s more than a hint of the bel paese suff used into this high-polish Parisian hideaway. Close to Le Bristol and the Plaza Athénée on the so-called Golden Triangle, it’s the sort of place where patrons in Prada glasses might convene for an aperitivo at the backlit onyx bar to discuss the latest show at the Palais de Tokyo while nibbling on plump Castelvetrano olives and crumbly focaccia rings. Swiss businessmen swim morning laps in a semi-Olympic pool glimmering with malachite and gold mosaics. There’s a certain pristine perfection to the place, which was a decade in the making. Italian architectural fi rm Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel led the renovation of a Seventies post offi ce, extending the window openings over two fl oors – a nod to the Renaissance palaces designed by Andrea Palladio – and constructing the façade with the same pale ashlar masonry as Paris’s most recognisable monuments, including the Louvre and the Trocadéro. The food and drink, developed by science-driven chef Niko Romito and former Ritz mixologist Leonardo Zanini, is precise but unfussy – expect luscious spaghetti e pomodoro preceded by fi zzy cocktails. The Bulgari feels like a crisply sumptuous cocoon; a slice of high-fashion Italy that somehow fi ts just right into one of the world’s great hotel quarters. BETSY BLUMENTHAL Doubles from about AED 5,180; bulgarihotels.com BEST FOR LA DOLCE PARIS BULGARI HOTEL PARIS PHO T OGR APH: L UDO VIC B ALA YNext >