If you're looking to avoid the crowds on the big shopping streets, you'll find lots of little shops with an interesting selection of fashion and design just one street back from Mariahilfer Strasse. Our foray beings on Siebensterngasse. Guys can dress themselves completely at Arnold's – from shoes to shirts. Cool brands such as Carhartt, Red Wing shoes and Edwin Jeans are available at Arnold's.

And there's also a streetwear store on Siebensterngasse: the label Iriedaily comes from Berlin and, alongside casual fashion for women and men, offers all sorts of accessories from rucksacks to caps and even skateboards. Ina Kent is the place to buy fancy leather bags. The functional models can be carried in various ways and always look good. The variety of color is also incredible. Pretty hand-made jewelry by Sabina Ebner is available at the little store Schmuck Stück.

Design for furnishing

Siebensterngasse can also offer furnishing design. Volta is a concept store for minimalistic contemporary design with pretty home accessories, furniture and decorative items. La Maison d'Elisa specializes in charming furniture, lamps, home decor, toys and gifts from France. Design from Finland is in focus at Finnshop, such as textiles with the well-known Marimekko patterns as well as vases and glasses from iittala.

Siebensterngasse leads directly onto Westbahnstrasse, where things continue in a similar vein. Designqvist presents vintage design of the 1950s and 1960s from Scandinavia, above all tableware and household goods. Design & Art also has lots of classics on offer, alongside vintage and contemporary items.

And even more fashion

The shop Westbahnstrasse 4 carries stylish woolen fashion from Mühlmann, shoes for women and selected accessories. Right next door the designer of the label Wiener Konfektion is currently re-interpreting the Japanese kimono in a Viennese way. A few buildings further along, the concept store Domus Vivendi offers high-quality hand-made clothing from natural materials of its own label Modus Vivendi and fashion by selected international designers. The young, Austrian fashion label ROEE is known for its extraordinary cuts, which can be marveled at in the shop of the same name. And designer Lisi Lang has also moved into Westbahnstrasse with her fashion label lila.

Meshit is a hip store for purist Scandinavian fashion and also the home base of the up-and-coming Austrian designer duo Meshit. The Swiss bag label QWSTION is represented with a shop opposite, where it presents sustainable bags made from natural and renewable materials. In particular, the bags made from banana plants, a material called Bananatex, are a hit. Every six months, a new partner from the field of fashion and design which also offers sustainable products is presented.

And Westbahnstrasse can even boast a glass-blowing store. The glass artist Robert Comploj produces wonderful glassware in unbelievable shapes and colors here, and shows how modern the craft is. The artworks can be purchased at Glashütte Comploj.