Retail

Rossana Orlandi has established herself as the guru of the Milanese scene, launching emerging designers with her renowned and offbeat taste for new ideas. A warren of ever-changing installations by talents such as Piet Hein Eek, Nacho Carbonell and Maarten Baas surrounds Orlandi’s covered courtyard, which acts as a living room for Milan’s design world. “It’s more than a gallery,” says Orlandi. “It’s a design hub – a space to experience design with an open mind.” 

This bookshop contains some 5,000 titles on photography, focusing on US shutterbugs from the 1970s onwards. One of Italy’s finest specialists in the genre, it attracted cool cats long before Isola itself became a trendsetter. Owners Flavio Franzoni and Giulia Zorzi regularly organise exhibitions and workshops with photographers and editors. Franzoni also helps young snappers get their work into print; find them alongside treasures by William Eggleston and Antoine d’Agata.

Fashion powerhouse Slowear owns a stable of speciality menswear brands, each of which focuses on a single product and avoids following fickle fashion trends. At its Milan flagship, complete with plush carpets and exposed brick walls, shoppers will find smart chinos and trousers from its Incotex line, unstructured jackets for all seasons by Montedoro, sophisticated knitwear from Zanone and a rich assortment of classy button-down shirts. 

Known for his knack with cashmere, Massimo Alba is right at home weaving knitwear for men and women – and winning plaudits for his collections of superbly soft garments. His Italian cashmere is dyed with chemical-free pigments. Fans flock to the Brera boutique, where an old-fashioned shop bell announces your arrival. Besides the jumpers and cardigans you’ll find slim trousers, unstructured jackets and casual shirts in luxurious cotton and linens and an array of subtle pastel tones.

On the ground floor of a former 18th-century convent, Wait and See is stuffed with colourfully jubilant vintage and contemporary fashion handpicked by owner Uberta Zambeletti. Among the exotic treasures from far-flung bazaars and vibrant-toned frocks from niche labels, there is a wealth of pieces created specially for the shop. Images of the Virgin Mary and strings of pennant flags decorate the interior, while a giant wheel spins the jewellery selection like roulette. It might sound gaudy but this space has a winning charm.