Owned by two legendary NYC artists, Stash and Futura 2000, the shop has come to stand for the best in streetwear boutique culture. With an lineup consisting of the most limited and sought after sneakers in the market today, these owners have forged an indomitable house label that is only getting better with each new line.

Original print, graphic tees from Stash and Futura have become some of the most hunted items in streetwear today, with some fetching outlandish prices through resellers over the internet. Their new work doesn’t seem to produce anything less than hysteria, especially when they work with Nike on an exclusive sneaker or project. Famous for having die-hards camping outside the store prior to product release dates, Recon/Nort has become the most relevant streetwear shop

KCDC is the quintessential NY skateshop. Established in a neighborhood rich with skate culture, KCDC opened its doors to the public in 2001, mini-ramp and all. Keeping the scene fresh and inclusive, the shop provides platform to brands by local designers to accompany the skate-world’s bigger brands. Doubling as a gallery space, KCDC is truly of the neighborhood it calls home.

Some skate shops are fiercely territorial and do not take well to outsiders yet KCDC thrives on the diversity of their clientele. The space is open to all types of skaters, deciding to push the culture of skating and all its positivity instead of excluding first-timers or out-of-towners. Definitely a fun visit and a good time for the serious or nonchalant skater alike.

The exposed brick and hard wood flooring do not normally incite thoughts of baseball fields or athletic apparel. However, New Era’s flagship store in NYC boasts just such an upper echelon ambiance not in spite of their merchandise but as a direct result of it. Their caps are worn by professional ball players the world over and have seen more championships than the NY Yankees, Giants, and Dodgers combined. They stand as the symbol of excellence in their trade and their emblem has come to represent the finest in head wear.

So it is no mistake that their location in NY presents the New Era shopper with an accomplished sense of itself. Its vast inventory consists of the most exclusive caps New Era has to offer, rotating the stock daily because there simply just isn’t enough room to display all the head wear at once. If one is in the market for a ball-cap, there really isn’t much of a decision to be made as to where they should go but once they get there it’s a whole different ball game.

Zakka is a sub-culture and niche market information super-hub. Focusing on graphic arts, design, clothing, and music, the shop is inhabited by every possible source of information available to the buyer. Zakka is replete with magazines, cd’s, books and merchandise propelling its shoppers into the creative realm Zakka calls home.

The shop even offers a “Creative Market,” which acts as a space which upcoming artists may use to display their work of all media and interact with the customers one on one. Such a neighborhood atmosphere between artist and audience is rare to say the least yet Zakka perpetuates this exchange of knowledge and inspiration in everything they do. Never too hip for their own good, the boutique is quaint and homey, creating a friendly atmosphere that keeps their customers coming back.

WESC or “We are the Superlative Conspiracy,” is a stylish streetwear brand that intends to change your opinion about the entire industry they’re in. Not merely content to sell a look, WESC pursues a more in-depth approach to the lifestyle behind the look as a whole, adamantly against merely appearing to be of the street culture that begat this style in the first place.

Their clothes are high-quality garments and the staff running the brand is made up of those who live the life and dress accordingly with no airs or falsehood about them. The shop is outfitted with their entire line and covers you head to toe in high-end street fashion. WESC boasts Jason Lee among their constituents and is worn throughout the country by high-minded members of the street-culture generation.

There is a moment when a location ceases to be simply a fixed geographical point on a map or a post office mailing address but something much, much more. Supreme NY is representative of this point. Since opening its doors in 1994, it has been populated by the city’s finest young raconteurs and developed into what it unashamedly calls “a downtown institution.” Producing some of the finest, most appealing apparel in the market today, Supreme is largely considered the epicenter of the New York streetwear and skate sub-culture.

Upon opening a location in LA that is replete with a homemade, indoor skate bowl, Supreme has become an established urban-American movement. On par with Dog-Town or the Café Wha? of former generations on both coasts, Lafayette and Houston St. have become the Haight-Ashbury of the streetwear-skate scene in NY. It behooves any buyer to visit the locale as a landmark of downtown NYC culture, let alone pick up some top of the line fits as well.

Union NYC is the original street-wear shop. Founded in 1989, Union has been the godfather of Spring St., and the downtown sub-culture, for nearly two decades. This type of history is unheard of anywhere in the world because to acquire a longevity of this magnitude in an industry as fickle and rapidly changing as streetwear is considered impossible.

However, Union maintained its swagger over the years, carrying the best in sneakers and apparel while maintaining a house label that’s collaborated with every top brand in the culture. Small in size but not in stature or appeal, the shop is literally filled with every relevant label a shopper could possibly want. The store is a testament to the sense of community and loyalty promulgated throughout this sub-culture and will be around for another twenty years to come.

The Reed Space is only one aspect of the creative triumvirate that is the brainchild of Jeff Ng, a.k.a Jeff “Staple.” Staple clothing and Staple design compose the rest of this creative powerhouse and they both figure prominently into the shop’s design and merchandise. The house label represents a fair portion of the available apparel and the design team has done collaborative work with Nike, Timberland, Puma and Sony Playstation to name a few.

The Reed Space doubles as gallery space and has been the site of many installations that cover a broad view of artistic genres. A distinctly noticeable design cue will be the chairs that are hung on the wall, acting as shelving for merchandise. The shop has a clean, streamlined quality yet maintains the atmosphere of an NYC boutique. Shoppers are privy to an array of books, magazines and accessories in addition to the oft sought after apparel and footwear.

With three locations worldwide and a busy online shop it would be dishonest to say that Flight Club is anywhere but at the top of its game. Located in NY, LA and Tokyo, the store’s general appeal stems from the vast array of limited and rare sneakers wrapped in protective plastic and adorning the shop’s massive walls. Shoppers tend toward finger pointing their friends toward an esteemed pair, and then another significant pair, and yet another until the wall of shoes becomes one giant mosaic tribute to all things sneaker-head.

Those who venture into Flight Club’s vault-like domain will undoubtedly find several pairs of shoes that carry some bit of the shoppers youth. Whether it be your first pair of Jordans or that sneaker you wore when what’s-her-face recognized you existed, Flight Club is a sure-shot treasure of footwear that will never disappoint.