The best fashion and gift stores Stone Town

Located in the heart of Zanzibar's old town, this is the island's largest souvenir store. Above all, the prices are displayed in dollars, which means they're reasonable and there's no need to haggle if you're in a hurry or tired of the ritual, and credit cards are accepted. On 2 levels, you'll find beautiful objects to take home, mainly jewelry, clothes, books, handicrafts, music, spices, the same as in other souvenir stores, except that there's a lot of choice. You'll also find stamps for Europe.

Right next door to the Emerson Spice Hotel is a new boutique created by a young Frenchman (but run by locals), which stands out from the surrounding landscape. Here, no "Hakuna Matata" or "Zanzibar" tee-shirts and pants, but shirts, dresses, crop-tops and shorts and blouse sets sewn with pretty, colorful wax. The cuts are well thought-out, the seams applied. Cotton T-shirts are openworked with pieces of wax, without overloading. Prices are a little high, but the work is of high quality.

It is in this narrow alley that you should come to buy your fabrics before returning with a suitcase full of beautiful fabrics at low prices. You can find here different types of kangas, Tanzanian kikois of different quality and size. You can also find Tanzanian kitengés, which are a bit more expensive. The fabrics, patterns and colours are exceptional, and the choice is vast. Take your time. To make clothes or covers with these fabrics, you can order from one of the many custom seamstresses in the area

This boutique of high-end designer bags is run by Hasnuu Mabrouk, a well-known fashion tailor, and by Jolie Lawrence, who founded the boutique, whose items are made by fair-trade women from Zanzibar. The prices are high, but the level of quality of the garments is comparable to that of Western designer boutiques. The fabrics are local, of the best possible quality, as is the leather. Also on the spot: jewellery and accessories. A beautiful shop.

This elegantly designed clothing store combines Italian styling with local fabrics, high in colour and graphics. The talent is found in the choice of patterns and colors as well as in the cuts. The production is handmade, with very limited editions of artistic pieces, mainly clothes, in an afromix, sophisticated, tribal, massaï style, etc. All the fabrics of the region are declined in very well cut pieces. Beautiful handcrafted jewellery is also presented, as well as all kinds of accessories.

The king of handmade sandals in Zanzibar! The Surti family has been making them for more than 30 years, a true savoir-faire. You'll find them up to the ceiling in their store, right in the middle of Shangani. It's the ideal place to find beautiful, colorful, high-quality sandals and flip-flops, mainly in leather, but also in Maasai beads, etc. There's something for every taste. There's something for every taste and color. We love the solid, well-finished workmanship of these comfortable sandals, which you can wear right away or take home in your suitcase as a gift.

Shop for dresses, shorts, shirts and other clothes made with local kangas, kitenge and wax, but also other contemporary fabrics. The cuts are contemporary, the colours and materials unique, the details tastefully thought out. It is also possible to go and buy your own fabrics at the market and have everything made to measure. The shop runs an NGO that allows young women from the island to follow a 6-month training course in sewing and design in the workshops behind the shop. In addition to being beautiful, it is useful.

This craftsman's workshop located in the small shopping streets of old Stone Town offers an original idea: to make your coins into jewellery. It's numismatic goldsmithing in short, and the coins in the shop window are made with coins from many African countries. You can find current and old Tanzanian coins, but also many regional coins. Pendants, rings, etc. Everything is possible on demand. There are also nice collections of local silverware (Arabic letters, Kilimanjaro profile...). Very original.

The art of henna in all its forms has been practiced for centuries by Zanzibar's most gifted women in Arabic drawing and calligraphy. The shop sells handicrafts, paintings, printed fabrics and decorative objects, and offers introductory workshops in henna body painting. It's a local initiative by the women of Stone Town, and 100% fair trade. And what a pleasure it is to leave the island with hands and feet delicately painted with oriental henna designs.

Robin opened in 2017 a very nice photo art gallery. This native photographer of the island has immortalized its inhabitants through portraits, its landscapes, and he offers prints of all sizes, as well as high quality postcards, at reasonable prices. The interest is that the natives let themselves be photographed by the locals but refuse to be photographed by tourists. He immortalizes beautiful portraits and landscapes.

Here is a refined address to find beautiful jewellery, especially in cut and mounted tanzanite gemstone. This gem with its indescribable cobalt blue colour and translucent indigo highlights, a thousand times rarer than diamond, is often found by the Masai of the nearby continent where it is mined. The company has a unique know-how in goldsmithing and in cutting tanzanite, as it originates from the region where this precious stone is mined and has shops in Arusha, Serengeti, Kilimanjaro, etc

Rizwan sews cushion covers, computer cases, clothes, bags, cases for musical instruments, everything! Made-to-measure and with local kitengé and wax, also sold on the spot. Bananas, precious handbags, cases for handbags, flip-flops, wallets, luggage, hats, caps, everything in colour and solidly sewn. A beautiful inventiveness declined in a wide range of objects and accessories, made 100% in Zanzibar. Soaps made on the island from seaweed and spices harvested here are also sold in pretty packaging.

This brand new luxury concept store is located in the middle of Shangani. It is perhaps one of the most expensive and stylish in Stone Town. Catherine Africa Spirit's collection of women's clothing and accessories is designed for the holidays: many pieces are made from colourful Tanzanian kitengé fabric. There is also a line of girls' clothing, especially dresses. Everything has been cut and sewn by local dressmakers. Jewellery, delicate decorative objects, and many well-designed items at high prices.

This new Zuri Rituals boutique in Zanzibar is an enriching concept-store, first and foremost for the range of natural cosmetics it is beginning to develop based on plants with healing properties. But Zuri Rituals doesn't limit itself to beauty products: the store also offers high-quality spices sold in bulk and not crushed in sachets like in the market, old photos of the town beautifully framed in carved driftwood, essential oil compress balls draped in kitenge, and lots of other lovely surprises.