You can’t really call Chelsea the new SoHo—few SoHo galleries were ever this spiffy or big. In the old days, the market for contemporary art was not this hot, and there was barely an interest in contemporary art furniture. Now Marc Newson’s chairs are as sought after as Damien Hirst’s fish tanks. Chelsea’s art district spans 10th and 12th avenues from 21st to 29th streets. If you don’t have much time for exploring, concentrate on 21st and 24th streets; they’re packed with heavy hitters. On 21st, you’ll find Tanya Bonakdar (521 West 21st St.; 212-414-4144; www.tanyabonakdargallery.com), Gagosian (522 West 21st St.; 212-741-1717; www.gagosian.com) and Paula Cooper (534West 21st St.; 212-255-1105); on 24th, Gladstone Gallery (515 West 24th St.; 212-206-9300; www.gladstonegallery.com) and Matthew Marks (523 West 24th St.; 212-243-0200; www.matthewmarks.com). Galleries tend to be open from Tuesdays through Saturdays, from 10 A.M. to 6 P.M. Call to confirm. In the fashion world, Rei Kawakubo is considered an artist. So it’s fitting that her boutique, Comme des Garçons (520 West 22nd St.; 212-604-9200), was one of Chelsea’s pioneers. Its aluminum-tunnel entry and raw industrial interior by the British firm Future Systems still look cutting-edge.

Twenty years ago, this neighborhood—situated west of Hudson Street, between Gansevoort and 15th streets—was a fearsome place. It was threatening at night, with its S&M clubs, “tranny” prostitutes, and bloody-smocked butchers lugging animal carcasses about, and desolate by day, with the stink of death still hanging in the air. That sour smell lingers on, but these days the young and stylish swarm the cobblestoned streets at night, on their way to late dinners and dancing at the district’s many chic boîtes. Many of the old meat warehouses have been turned into trendy boutiques. Fourteenth Street west of 9th Avenue is chockablock with such marquee fashion names as Stella McCartney and Alexander McQueen, along with such rising stars as Yigal Azrouël and Carlos Miele. Some of the boutique interiors are as cool as the clothes. More low-key than SoHo design mecca Moss, and even more idiosyncratic in its offerings, the modern design shop Karkula Gansevoort St.; 212-645-2216; www.karkula.com_) is one of my favorites in the city. I also love Lars Bolander N.Y. (72 Gansevoort St.; 212-924-1000; www.larsbolander.com); its Gustavian and French antique offerings convincingly conjure the atmosphere of a Swedish manor house. If you count yourself among the design vanguard, don’t miss a stop at Vitra (29 Ninth Ave.; 212-463-5700; www.vitra.com), the Swiss furniture maker’s only retail shop in the U.S.

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Now that SoHo is packed with the luxury brand stores—Prada, Ferragamo, Burberry Prorsum, Hogan, Chanel, Missoni, Louis Vuitton—nearby NoLita has become the destination for quirky, handmade fashion, jewelry and design. Bordering Little Italy and Chinatown, this neighborhood of old tenements possesses authentic local color and grit, not to mention a high demographic of fashionistas! Much of the best shopping is on Elizabeth and Mott streets between Houston and Spring. Mott Street is where Christiane Celle established the first American outpost of her St. Bart’s boutique, Calypso (280 Mott St.; 212-965-0990; www.calypso-celle.com) in 1995. The shop is a great source for pretty embroidered beach cover-ups and white lacy dresses. Calypso Bijoux (252 Mott St.; 212-334-9730; www.calypso-celle.com), just a few doors away, sells easy, appealing marine-inspired jewelry at equally appealing prices. Sarah Jessica Parker and Julia Stiles are among the celebs known to wear the superfeminine clothes of New Zealand designer Rebecca Taylor (260 Mott St.; 212-966-0406, www.rebeccataylor.com). Two other celeb magnets on this block are the zinnia-trimmed Tory Burch (257 Elizabeth St.; 212-334-3000, www.toryburch.com) boutique, known for its cheerful, well-made Euro preppy fashions; and fashion veteran Holly Dunlap’s Hollywould (198 Elizabeth St.; 212-219-1905; www.ilovehollywould.com), where glam ballerina slippers, grosgrain wedges and basket-weave bags rule. You’ll also find the boutiques of emerging designers like Emmett McCarthy, an alumnus of Project Runway, who hawks his clean-lined, bold print fashions at EMC2 (240 Elizabeth St.; 212-431-4134; www.emmettmccarthy.com); and Mayle (242 Elizabeth St.; 212-625-0406), where Jane Mayle displays her vintage-inspired clothes in a charming shabby-chic setting. Groupe 16sur20 (267 Elizabeth St.; 212-343-0007; www.groupe1620.com) is typical of NoLita’s idiosyncratic entrepreneurial spirit. The shop sells its Seize sur Vingt bespoke-inspired shirts and suits and hosts installations of art photography. While you may not attain enlightenment by wearing beautiful jewelry, the spare, elegant creations of Me & Ro (241 Elizabeth St.; 917-237-9215; www.meandrojewelry.com) are aesthetically transforming. The lovely pool dotted with lotus flowers in the front enhances the store’s serene allure. Eddie Roschi and Fabrice Penot were two “noses” jaded by corporate life, who decided to put the mystique back into perfume. Their refreshingly anti-brand Le Labo (233 Elizabeth St.; 212-219-2230; www.lelabofragrances.com) fragrance lab does just that.

Further down Elizabeth, past Prince Street, is a former firehouse, its doors almost concealed by graffiti. But peek into its big window: inside is a fantastical warehouse of antique architecture and garden ornaments and furniture. The timber ceiling of what is the Elizabeth Street Gallery (209 Elizabeth St.; 212-941-4900; www.elizabethstreetgallery.com) is original to the space, but the carved stone fireplace is from a French château.

NoLita boasts two of the city’s most original handbag stores. Jamin-Puech (247 Elizabeth St.; 212-431-5200; www.jamin-puech.com) offers the last word in Paris chic: exquisite, exuberant, couture-worthy purses, clutches and satchels, crafted from an inspired array of materials. Helen Mariën (250 Mott St.; 212-680-1911; www.helenmarien.com) sells sleek, beautifully made, ultralight bags that somehow recall Halston’s no-nonsense modernity. Right next door is the Australian import Dinosaur Designs (250 Mott St.; 212-680.3523; www.dinosaurdesigns.com.au). The shop sells bold, brightly hued jewelry and housewares crafted out of molded resin and inspired by the colors, nature and landscape of Down Under.

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The bohemia that spawned the name SoHo—south of Houston Street—is no more; it’s been replaced by a posh open-air shopping mall. The symbolic last straw may have been when Rem Koolhaas converted the cast-iron building that once served as the downtown base of the Guggenheim into Prada’s American flagship. Retail becomes high art. Happily, despite the district’s latest metamorphosis, its late-19th-century cast-iron buildings, once among the most architecturally advanced of their day, have been preserved. So while it’s easy to be beguiled by SoHo’s shop windows, make sure you look upward.

SoHo may no longer be the hub of the art universe, but it is a nexus for cutting-edge design—most of it Italian imports! Make sure you pay a pilgrimage to the design shrine Moss (150 Greene St.; 866-888-6677; www.mossonline.com). The idiosyncratic mix of high-modern furniture, exquisite porcelain and extravagant chandeliers is an aesthetic revelation—not to mention retail genius. Next door at 146 is Moroso at Moss Moss’s latest experiment in retail is a collaboration with this directional Italian furniture company and Maharam, whose vivacious contemporary textiles decorate the walls and cover the furnishings. Just down the block is By New York (142 Greene St.; 212-431-4424; www.bynewyork.com), which has taken the new trend for showroom-as-sophisticated-loft to new heights. A similar strategy is at work at B&B Italia (138 Greene St; 800-872-1697; www.bebitalia.com), which just opened a showroom by the award-winning architect Michael Gabellini, known for his minimalist opulence. Alessi (130 Greene St.; 212-941-7300; www.alessi.com) purveys its ultramodern, extremely pricey table- and kitchenware in a stunning, brand-new mirrored space.

While there are many great contemporary lighting designers, only Ingo Maurer (89 Grand St.; 212-965-8817) can transform light into poetry. His shop at the corner of Greene and Grand illumines his highly personal and playful genius. If you’re a collector of architecture and design books, leave some time to browse the basement bookshop of the mother of modern design retailers, the MoMA Design Store (81 Spring St.; 646-613-1367; www.momastore.org).

Serious collectors of vintage modern furniture might want to take the ancient steel cage elevator at 10 Greene Street up to the fourth-floor showroom of furniture dealer extraordinaire Cristina Grajales (10 Greene St., fourth floor; 212-219-9941; www.cristinagrajalesinc.com). Expect to find exceptional works by Nakashima, Prouvé and Ponti, as well as contemporary pieces by Michele Oka Doner and Christophe Come. If you have a yen for ikats, dhurries or Persian carpets, you’ll be in heaven amid the exquisite offerings of the Mark Shilen Gallery (457 Broome St.; 212-925-3394).

For beautiful interiors that are contemporary in mood but don’t push the envelope, drop by the recent British import Ochre (462 Broome St.; 212-414-4332; www.ochre.net), known for finely crafted upholstered furnishings and pale, earth-toned accessories in natural materials like vellum and bone. With the same warm, eclectic vibe but twice as grand is Aero (419 Broome St.; 212-966-1500; www.aerostudios.com), the decorating think tank of celebrated designer Thomas O’Brien.

The anti-establishment spirit of old SoHo lives on at Salvor Kiosk (95 Spring St., second floor; 212-226-8601). Proprietor Alisa Grifo travels to a different country several times a year and comes back with a stash of eclectic items characteristic of that place, from stationery to clothing to condiments. In a world of slick, globalized design, her store offers a welcome perspective on great design and original products.

In the 19th century, Broadway was the city’s most elegant shopping avenue, and no department store was grander than the august Arnold, Constable & Company. While it’s long gone, its handsome cast-iron building has given root to a “new age” in retailing, the utterly original ABC Carpet and Home (888 and 881 Broadway; 212-473-3000, www.abchome.com). This beguiling home-fashion bazaar purveys everything from the most luxurious bedding and stylish furnishings to delightful handmade children’s gear to a dizzying range of crafts by indigenous peoples. Determined to change the world through consumption, ABC exhorts customers to give generously to visionary charities and to live sustainably. It even provides a service for solar-power retrofitting! Across the street, its vast carpet selection truly can’t be beat—ABC is the single largest floor-covering retailer in the world! Less overwhelming but just as eclectic in its exoticism is the nearby hole-in-the-wall boutique Beads of Paradise (16 East 17th St.; 212-620-0642). Expect to find vivid-hued lacquer tableware, unusual handwoven baskets, Balinese fishermen’s pants, Thai Buddhas, tribal jewelry and a mind-boggling array of glittering glass, metal and semiprecious stone beads, so you can string your own adornments. If you stride farther down Broadway, through the historic Union Square to 12th Street, you’ll come upon the much beloved, family-owned Strand Books (828 Broadway; 212-473-1452; www.strandbooks.com), the last surviving member of what used to be Book Row. Browsing its miles and miles of new, used and rare books here on Sunday is as much a New York tradition as eating bagels and lox.

What was once Book Row is now a vintage modern village. In addition to offering a fine selection of furniture by Scandinavian and American midcentury greats, Lost City Arts (18 Cooper Square; 212-375-0500; www.lostcityarts.com) boasts a rare collection of Harry Bertoia sculptures. Alan Moss (436 Lafayette St.; 212-473-1310; www.alanmossny.com) specializes in works by such decorative masters as Jacques Adnet, René Herbst, Billy Haines and Edward Wormley. And DeLorenzo 1950 (440 Lafayette St.; 212-995-1950), one of the neighborhood’s first settlers and dealers in Modernism, was highly influential in making the inventive French designers Serge Mouille and Jean Prouvé household names—at least among the loft-living set.

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New York’s poshest neighborhood boasts some of the finest galleries for deco and moderne furnishings: Vallois (27 East 67th St.; 212-517-3820; www.vallois.com), a satellite of the estimable Parisian store; Karl Kemp (833 Madison Ave.; 212-288-3838; www.karlkemp.com), also known for its exceptional Biedermeier; DeLorenzo (956 Madison Ave.; 212-249-7575), a great source for works by Diego Giacometti; L’Art de Vivre (978 Lexington Ave.; 212-734-3510); and Palumbo (972 Lexington Ave.; 212-734-7630; www.palumbogallery.com), specializing in Tommi Parzinger designs.

Lexington Avenue in the 70s is also known for its host of charming shops specializing in decorative and garden furnishings. Look out for Nina Griscom (958 Lexington Ave.; 212-717-7373; www.ninagriscom.com), which features exotic horn furnishings, coral candlesticks and rattan evening clutches with silver clasps; Mecox Gardens (962 Lexington Ave., 212-249-5301, mecoxgardens.com); and Lexington Gardens (1011 Lexington Ave.; 212-861-4390) for antique prints, shell fantasias, garden ornaments and luscious bouquets by Michael Walters.

One of the city’s most endearingly quirky neighborhoods—not to mention chicest shopping destinations—is the West Village, which runs from Seventh Avenue to the Hudson River between West Houston and 14th streets. Start with a visit to Christopher Street. Once the heart of the city’s gay community, it’s now known for its fashionista shopping. Keep an eye out for the tiny Aedes de Venustas (9 Christopher St.; 212-206-8674; www.aedes.com), and don’t be put off by the Victorian bordello decor—inside are some of the world’s most rare and luscious fragrances. For lovers of modern Scandinavian fashion and design, there’s Hus (11 Christopher St.; 212-620-5430; www.husliving.com). It’s the only place in the city you’ll find Stelton tableware, Tiger of Sweden fashions and Nudie Jeans under one roof! There’s also Albertine (13 Christopher St.; 212-924-8515), featuring glamour-girl fashions by emerging designers and must-have accessories, like metallic open-toe high heels and clutch purses. Across the street is Lucien Pellat-Finet (14 Christopher St.; 212-255-8560; www.lucienpellat-finet.com), the designer known for his ultrathin, supergraphic brightly hued cashmere sweaters.

Walk northward up picturesque Greenwich Street for more boutiques and galleries. Those in search of the perfect hostess gift will be delighted by “Hable Construction’:/destinations/12/departments/73(117 Perry St.; 212-989-2375; www.hableconstruction.com¬), where you’ll find sturdy canvas totes, practical aprons, garden gloves, storage baskets and pillows in fresh, pretty canvas prints. If you like fine art photography and enjoy the hunt for new talent, drop into the small but influential Robin Rice Gallery (325 West 11th St.; 212-366-6660; www.robinricegallery.com). You’ll probably enjoy browsing as well in the gallery next door, Artware Editions (327 West 11th St.; 212-463-7490; www.artwareeditions.com), where you can buy functional objects and furnishings designed by the likes of Donald Judd, Yves Klein, Kiki Smith and Lisa Yuskavage. It’s a whole new way to live with art. Since you’re on 11th, you might want to wander eastward to Bleecker Street to check out the scene. On the weekends, young hipsters mob the Magnolia Bakery (401 Bleecker St.; 212-462-2572; www.magnoliacupcakes.com), fabled for its cupcakes, late into the night—it’s open until 12:30 on Friday and Saturday evenings. For these hipsters, the Marc by Marc Jacobs boutique next door (405 Bleecker St.; 212-924-0026; www.marcjacobs.com) is something of a clubhouse. The ever-changing array of inexpensive baubles Jacobs vends there makes it possible for just about anyone to “enjoy the brand.” Butik (605 Hudson St.; 212-367-8014) is proof that the owner, Danish supermodel Helena Christensen, knows a thing or two about style—and seduction. The shop’s highly personal selection of flowing dresses, weathered garden furnishings and enchanting toys from Denmark, Sweden and France is hard to resist. There’s nothing conventional about the cerebral Belgian designer Maison Martin Margiela, known for fashions like a parka made of ski gloves, so don’t expect the typical boutique. The nondescript entry (803 Greenwich St.; 212-989-7612; www.maisonmartinmargiela.com) is marked by a window box with whitewashed plants. Every new outfit deserves a new pair of stilettos. So head up the street to Christian Louboutin (59 Horatio St.; 212-255-1910; www.christianlouboutin.fr), a French designer who takes beauty seriously. He displays his chic shoe creations in niches, as if they were objets.