Edition Populaire

The best shopping in Switzerland

Go on a nationwide spending spree with our guide to some of the best shops in Zurich, Bern, Geneva and Lausanne – from famous department stores to local legends

Written by
Celeste Neill
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Zurich

Freitag
  • Shopping
  • Bags and luggage
  • Industriequartier

The bags of Markus and Daniel Freitag certainly need no further introduction, and where would be a better place to buy these individual designs made of truck tarps, inner tubes and seat belts than their container-shop in Zurich West?

Vestibule
  • Shopping
  • Boutiques
  • Kreis 1

One of the top destinations for local fashionista's thanks to owner Laurence Antiglio's lovingly curated collections which showcase of-the-moment designers plus cute lifestyle accessories. 

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Limited Stock
  • Shopping
  • Rathaus

Specialising in the quirky, the extraordinary and - of course - the namesake limited stock, this little concept store tucked into a back alley of the old town offers a varied wonderland of goods, from hand-made gardening tools to porcelain jewellery. 

  • Shopping
  • Boutiques
  • Enge

Switzerland is of course associated with luxury watches but it’s somewhat surprising to discover that none are made in Zurich. Watch entrepreneur Daniel Dreifuss, one of the most charismatic characters you can meet in the city, is the founder of Maurice de Mauriac, the only watch brand made in Zurich. 

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Grieder
  • Shopping
  • Designer
  • City

At Grieder, you can find some of the most popular luxury brands all under one roof, including Burberry, Akris, Isabel Marant, Diane von Fürstenberg, Chloé, Stella McCartney and many more. 

Lele Pyp
  • Shopping
  • Boutiques
  • City

Swiss-Brazilian siblings Stephanie, Samantha and Bernardo Müller Knab have risen to rapid fame with their feminine shoe-label. High heels are their main business, but their flats are equally elegant. 

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Harrison Spirit
  • Shopping
  • Home decor
  • Aussersihl

Instant interior refreshment is what Harrison Spirit offers. Got a boring but pretty sofa in grey, beige or navy? Then get some colour into your front room with some of the crazy cushions this little shop has on offer. 

Number Two
  • Shopping
  • Maternity
  • Seefeld

This back street boutique has a touch of cult Paris store Colette about it, where you can find all manner of products and clothing with a hip edge. 

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Einzelstück
  • Shopping
  • Antiques
  • Aussersihl

Hindu statues, large wooden furniture pieces and beautiful glassware were all discovered on the many trips that Simon Wirth and Susanne Schmid have taken to India throughout the past few years. 

  • Shopping
  • Vintage shops
  • Unterstrass

This newly expanded shop off Schaffhauserplatz is not simply a second hand shop - it's a 'curated' second hand shop. The owners personally select what they put on display and only what they consider to be fashionable, stylish and contemporary ends up on their shelves. 

Geneva

Le Bal des Créateurs
  • Shopping
  • Plainpalais

Le Bal des Créateurs is a concept store devised by Geneva’s most famous hairdresser, Christophe Durand. Housed in an old art gallery, it features a bookshop, beauty room, hairdresser's and 150m2 gallery area, making it a favourite with local designers and the fashion press.

Les Enfants Terribles
  • Shopping
  • Boutiques
  • Plainpalais

Part design workshop, part vintage emporium and part café bar, Les Enfants Terribles pulls off a feat of multi-tasking to be one of the coolest spaces in Geneva. 

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M.A.D Gallery
  • Shopping
  • Old Town (Vieille Ville)

MAD in this case doesn’t stand for crazy, although there is something of the weird and wonderful about this place. It stands for Mechanical Art Devices, and it's a gallery and shop that shows unconventional pieces from leading international artists in kinetic (movable) art. 

Ozone Design
  • Shopping
  • Antiques
  • Eaux-Vives

Turn your back on the lake and hike up the hill towards Geneva’s upmarket Florissant quarter for hippy-dippy interior design shop Ozone. Inspired by 1960s London, it offers an affordable range of retro goodies – think bright Perspex vases, Warhol prints and quirky Quadrophenia-inspired mirrors. 

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Le Panapé de Caméla
  • Shopping
  • Boutiques
  • Plainpalais

The intriguing and busy bazaar window display at interiors shop Le Panapé de Caméla catches the imagination of passing students from nearby Geneva University as much as local big-spenders.

La Teinturerie
  • Shopping
  • Geneva

Tucked away in Place des Augustins, this shop is known for its selection of unique pieces by Swiss and international independent designers. 

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Globus Geneva
  • Shopping
  • Department stores
  • Old Town (Vieille Ville)

Any shopping trip to Geneva should, and inevitably will, feature this busy department store at some point. Fashionwise, the selection has become more adventurous in recent years and now includes edgy, contemporary brands from the likes of hipster favourite Maje and Sandro, while the vast lingerie department stocks every “it” brand from Elle Macpherson to Hanky Panky. 

Les Recyclables
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • Restaurants
  • Contemporary European
  • Plainpalais
  • price 2 of 4

An antidote to big-name chain cafés and a pocket of calm amid the bustle of Rue de Carouge, Les Recyclables is a delight. Half café, half second-hand bookshop, it lures you in for a drink or lunch and tempts you with a selection of new reading material. 

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La Muse
  • Shopping
  • Boutiques
  • Old Town (Vieille Ville)

A welcome addition to the designer fashion scene in Geneva, La Muse offers an edgy and eclectic mix of brands passionately sold to you by its owner, Viola. Her creative mix of labels includes established British and international names such as Vivienne Westwood and Hudson, and newly emerging homegrown talent. 

L’Apollinaire
  • Shopping
  • Boutiques
  • Old Town (Vieille Ville)

Poetry and art inspire the décor of this uptown multibrand store. The tone is set by the words to the French poem L’Apollinaire printed across swathes of linen, and specially commissioned pieces of Italian designer furniture fixed to the floor.

Lausanne

Durig Chocolatier
  • Shopping
  • Chocolate and sweets
  • Ville Marché

One of Lausanne’s best chocolatiers, Durig occupies two shops in the city, but this is the original one, where the chocolates are made on site.

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  • Shopping
  • Home decor
  • Ville Marché

A great place for picking up an original gift, Particules en Suspension (which also owns the nearby Particules Fines) comprises two levels of gadgets, trinkets, books, cards, kitchenware, t-shirts and baby gifts. 

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Blondel
  • Shopping
  • Chocolate and sweets
  • Ville Marché

It’s practically impossible to walk past this artisan chocolate shop without going in, such are the enticing window displays and the rich cocoa smell wafting from the doorway. 

Royaume Melazic
  • Shopping
  • Gifts and souvenirs
  • Ville Marché

Drawing on the pleasing but rather tenuous link between fairycakes and fairytales, this idiosyncratic place is part cupcake bakery, part t-shirt shop with a princess theme.

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Maniak
  • Shopping
  • Flon

A mix between a hipster’s go-to store and a fancy dress shop, Maniak fills its copious floor space with an unusual combination of top street-cool brands such as Dickies, Carhartt and Superdry, and dress-up essentials including devil horns, mullet wigs and feather boas. 

Cocooning
  • Shopping
  • Ville Marché

This lovely shop tucked up a side street in Lausanne’s pedestrian area sells soaps, lotions and bath salts made using natural, biodegradable Swiss ingredients drawn from alpine flowers, vegetable oils and even cow’s milk.

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Soda
  • Shopping
  • Ville Marché

The rather downmarket shopfront doesn’t do this place justice, but venture inside and you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Pomp it Up
  • Shopping
  • Flon

Appropriately housed in one of the former warehouses in trendy Le Flon, this is a temple to trainers.

Bern

  • Shopping
  • Boutiques
  • Old City of Bern
  • price 4 of 4

Known lovingly by Bern’s fashion crowd as “Mapi”, Maria Pia Amabile is a Swiss-Italian fashion designer with an energetic enthusiasm that breathes life into her ready-to-wear collections.

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  • Shopping
  • Boutiques
  • Old City of Bern
  • price 4 of 4

Bernese fashion designer Susanne Pfeffer’s label, 2ème Étage, comprises bold pieces that are at once eye-catching and stylish. 

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  • Shopping
  • Boutiques
  • Old City of Bern
  • price 4 of 4

The vibrant fabric collections sold in Bernese boutique Ooonyva are based on influences as diverse as artists including Frida Kahlo, places like Pellon’s native Lyon and topics such as the seven biblical sins.

  • Shopping
  • Boutiques
  • Old City of Bern
  • price 4 of 4

Bern designer Debora Rentsch knows that beautiful basics are the key to any outfit, and has created a label around this concept. 

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  • Shopping
  • Boutiques
  • Monbijou
  • price 4 of 4

This Bernese label run by Nicole Verbeek-Burri and Evelyne Pfeffer is clear about what it stands for: uncomplicated fashion that can be worn from day to evening and make all body shapes and sizes look and feel beautiful. 

Yamatuti
  • Shopping
  • Home decor
  • Äussere Neustadt

A regular Aladdin’s Cave of delights, Yamatuti embraces the classier side of kitsch with its offerings of greeting cards, homewares, kitchen accessories and other items that fall definitely into the category of “want” rather than “need”.

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  • Shopping
  • Boutiques
  • Old City of Bern
  • price 3 of 4

Bernese footwear label Tokushuu is a fairy godmother for anyone who has anything but perfect Cinderella feet.

Peter Hahn Modehaus
  • Shopping
  • Boutiques
  • Zähringerstadt

The Peter Hahn brand specialises in high-quality women's fashion and men's clothing and stocks designs that are heavy on silk, cashmere and cotton.

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