Provider on Manchester Lane is located in the heart of Melbourne’s CDB. This very slick looking boutique streetwear store stocks local to overseas brands like Alife, Undefeated, Supply, P.A.M, BKTM and Reigning Champ . This spacious layout with high ceilings gives this store a great aesthetic appeal and shopping experience to go with the other boutique stores tucked away in this lane. Very close to Degraves lane which is renowned for its street art, you can’t see one without the other.

Well that pretty much sums up my quick Melburn Recon with other places i’ll have to save for next time. Places like; The Heist (little Lonsdale in the city), Donuts (in the city), Panic (Jonston st. Fitzroy), Someday (Curtain House Swanson st) and the Villain Store (Sydney road, Brunswick).

For any street artist and hip hop head This Is It is it! I managed to finally find the joint and it was closed. That didn’t stop Domski from letting me in who was cool for me to chill and take some pics. Heavily paint based this is Graff artist heaven. There is enough outter-wear to cop with some literature of Hip Hop amongst the paint and music also available for purchase. For the more contemporary artist there is a Art shop right next door.

Obese Records fatter than ya mamma! Obese Records is Australia’s largest independent Hip Hop Label and a touring (’Zoo Dynamics’) and record distribution company. From its humble beginnings as record store, now you can get everything Hip Hop from local to import CD’s and vinyl, Krink paint, oversea and local labels like Obese apparel. Definitely a must for anyone headin to Melbourne. Check out their website for everything Obese!

Orternate Thread is a new store to hit the scene on Greville street which is just off Chapel, this shop predominately stocks apparel with the exception of a select range of Osiris shoes. With a nice mix of local and overseas brands, Rival Revolution is a local brand that caught my eye. Props to Peter for the low down on Orternate, check out his site for more pics of his store here.

Now onto the famous Chapel Street, seriously a days worth of shopping on one long-ass strip. This is my second time in Evolve and there’s no question that Scott is the most down-to-earth bloke i’ve met. Undoubtedly the rock of the business, I highly recommend to give him a holla and check out his spot. From decks to gear, below and above the ankles, Evolve has an impressive range of brands to satisfy any stimulus pack.

Second stop still on Brunswick street, Fitzroy just a few shops down from Hemley is The Lab Store. The design and layout had its own unique character which made you feel like hangin out in its chilled out atmosphere. Another store that’s been holding it down for years, Tim was telling me that i was the 2nd cat that day that wanted to blog about their store. They must have been as impressed as i was, surrounded with a nice selection of sneakers, demin, Tee’s and new headwear from Coal essential for typical Melbourne weather.

With the limited time i had in Melbourne i was able to make my way around to the following stores:

First stop - HEMLEY Footwear skateboards clothing - This is where my Melburn leg all started. After hangin sneakers caught my eye walking down Brunswick street, Fitzroy, I got talking to Brian who was on duty upstairs. He was droppin the latest news on Melbourne’s local street scene and which spots he recommended me to check out. Cool dude. Hemley’s been around for years with the upstairs primarily focused on skateboarding gear. Downstairs which opened a few months ago, had all the boutique streetwear apparel, sneakers and accessories. A very nice transition from one to another. Big thanks to Jimmy for the hooking us up on the Triumvir Tee and letting us take pics inside Hemley.