Collins Street, Melbourne
Forget the hassle of scavenging in backstreets and markets. For a memorable Melbourne shopping expedition, hit the top of the main thoroughfare, Collins Street. Lined with plane trees illuminated by
fairy lights after dark, this section, known as the Paris End, seems to host the flagship store of every chain you can name.
The first stop on the city's grand boulevard of style, Hugo Boss (No230, tel: 61 3 9650 0606), offers suits from A$1,200 ($6,900) to A$1,500, shirts from A$200, trousers for A$400 and ties for about A$130. The tie selection is especially alluring, offering every conceivable shade of blue.
The nearby Swatch Store (No220, tel: 61 3 9654 9694) sells an array of novelty watches characterised by prettiness and whimsy. One sports pink, orange and violet stripes; another, adorned with pink faux fur, has tiny rabbit ears attached. The price of each is cute too: A$77.50.
Across the street, Ralph Lauren (No181, tel: 61 3 9654 0374) hypnotises the visitor with a slew of screens showing catwalk models. The fashion chain's own mesmerisingly bright shirts cost from A$130 to A$180. Jackets are A$500 and trousers cost about A$200.
Hi-tech audiovisual hub Bang & Olufsen (No179, tel: 61 3 9639 9366) is an oasis of understated cool. The shop offers everything from a swank BeoVision 5 plasma set (A$33,990) to a humble BeoCom 1401 phone table (A$50).
For more solid, silvery objects, call at Montblanc (No259, tel: 61 1300 364 810), which supplies spectacles, earrings and signature pens endowed with such poise it is hard to imagine something as low-tech as ink oozing from them. Correspondingly, they cost a fortune. Even a basic black-and-gold Meisterstuck sells for A$420; a Nicolaus Copernicus limited-edition pen, with nine sterling-silver rings and a green meteorite stone on the clip, weighs in at A$9,730.
Not exactly cheap, but much more friendly, Hermes (No123, tel: 61 3 9654 5571) uses plastic stegosauruses as window models for its tapestry-like scarves, priced from A$180 to A$2,000. For handbags, head to Louis Vuitton (No139, tel: 61 3 9654 6633), Gucci (No161, tel: 61 3 9639 6200) or Chanel (No209, tel: 61 3 9671 3533), where you will find arm candy beyond your wildest dreams.
When the intensity of your retail adventure becomes too much, choose between the Grand Hyatt Plaza food court and Cento Venti (tel: 61 3 9650 5621), which offers good vegetarian fare in a casually elegant setting for just A$9.50. If, after recharging, you feel you have not slaked your thirst for shopping, do not panic. Just dart into surprisingly lengthy Little Collins Street, which runs parallel to its big brother and is studded with yet more upmarket fashion stores such as Next, French Connection, David Jones, Witchery and Jigsaw.
