Montreal isn’t particularly a huge destination for luxury brands to have their own stand alone stores, and I’m pretty sure many of you are wondering where you could find your designer brands in the right places without too much effort.

So I’ve compiled a list of places on where to shop. Please keep in mind that most of the luxury brand boutiques are NOT the flagship stores, therefore will often times only carry a select number of items from the lines. If you want to blame a store for not carrying certain shoes or dresses, you can blame the store’s buyers.

Holt Renfrew
This Canadian high-end retailer will be probably the first place you want to look for in luxury brand names. They carry most of today’s known brands including some Canadian brands. There a few stand alone boutiques for Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana, Armani, Hermes, Gucci, and Tiffany’s, while the rest of the brands are sharing retail space. You’ll find most of the branded shoes here including Jimmy Choo.

Ogilvy
For some reason or another, only carries a handful of designer brands and the only site to carry official Louis Vuitton handbags, among other brands located here are Burberry, Michael Kors, Aquascutum, Ports 1961 and Hugo Boss. You will also find some unique perfumery brands such as L’Artisan Parfumeur.

TNT – The New Trend
Located in Westmount, TNT tends to carry more of the bridge collections, or less popular brands like Comme Des Garcons, Martin Margiela, Helmut Lang, but you’ll still be able to find some $500+ items in there if you look thoroughly.

Reborn
Located in the Old Port, for more avant-garde pieces from Ann Demeulmeester, Alexander Wang, Natalia Brilli, Rad Hourani, and Drkshdw by Rick Owens, it’s a tiny store but with a great selection. Surely not to be disappointed

Ursula B.
Located in Les Cours Mont-Royal, Ursula B. carries more European fashion apparels including Roberto Cavalli, Pringle of Scotland, Lanvin, Balenciaga, Viktor & Rolf, and Givenchy. Mind you, a very select collection chosen carefully by the owner herself. You won’t be disappointed by their very attentive staff either.

Mona Moore
This store on the Plateau specializes in carrying a very select list of designer footwear including Jil Sander, Lanvin, Dries Van Noten, Pierre Hardy, and Ann Demeulemeester. These high priced shoes are not to be trifled with, but don’t underestimate the power of their customers, some of their ultra cute shoes are gone almost instantly.

Rosenstein Paris
The official Christian Louboutin carrier, this store also is the official home to Repetto shoes, known for their classic ballerina shoes and flats, and Lucien Pellat-Finet. They also carry a unique french perfume brand called Les Parfums de Rosine. And yes, you can also find Louboutin at Holt Renfrew as well but in far fewer numbers.

Possible new luxury destination: Le Westin Hotel
This is pure speculation on my part, but the new Le Westin Hotel in the Old Port is said to open four designer boutiques in late 2009. Let’s cross our fingers that they will be brands that we don’t have yet!

If all else fails, you’re just a bus ride away to New York City.

Image credits: Holt Renfrew, Wikipedia

Chandler Burr, where art thou when I need thee?

As you may know, although I am not a big fan of beauty in products in general, I did have my curiosity piqued when I was asked to stop by L’Artisan Parfumeur at the Ogilvy this week. Most notably this wasn’t just any perfume company asking me to give their atelier a whiff, this was a specialized company who focused on creating perfumes hors commun (out of the ordinary).

Though I knew nothing about perfumes, I was curious. I was given a slight glimpse of the complicated process in Dana Thomas’ “Deluxe”, but I was eager to learn more about this niche industry.

L’Artisan Parfumeur Since 1976

Over the last 30 years, the French company has created over 40 different perfumes, 31 of which I received a sample of (that’s a lot of perfume to inhale!). It’s to be noted that this company have signed a deal with two venerable luxury brands – Bottega Veneta and Burberry. They’ve developed 4 unique “home styled” scents for each company according to the seasons, more on that to follow.

I met with Ciara Tang, a representative of L’Artisan at the Olgivy, Canada’s sole boutique. She graciously gave me a tour of roughly 15 different scents and explained to me the vast world of perfumes. In half an hour, I was immersed, curious and surprised at the range of fragrances presented to me.

Consistency

While many luxury brands spend a good bit of money on the design of the bottle itself, trying to make it the next Chanel No. 5, many times they tend to forget about the quality of the perfume. A winning point was the simplistic and consistent design of their perfume bottle. A hexagonal shaped glass bottle with a hexagonal gold cap, interchanging only the colored banner according to each perfume. If it’s a limited edition, it might have light transparent vector art on the side. It is subtle luxury, none too flashy, and clearly labeled. No muss. No fuss.

Originality

When Ciara asked me what kind of smells I liked, I was actually dumbfounded since I couldn’t really say what I really liked, since I didn’t know what smells I liked. Sweet? Spicy? Earthy? Masculine? Musky? I don’t know. So I was given perfume strips to smell on for size. Surprisingly, each of the perfumes I smelled were quite distinct from one another, if I may perhaps say, quite impossible to mistaken it for something else.

Such as, you can’t possibly mistake Piment Brûlant with Bois Farine, nor from Dzing! from Fleur de Liane.

Piment Brûlant – As Ciara’s favorite, it smells exactly like what it says – like hot peppers. There are slight hints of vanilla and cocoa as base notes.

Bois Farine – Who likes the smell of flour with hints of wood? Unique to say the least, however every time I smell it, I get a tingly feeling in my nose as if I’m about to sneeze.

Dzing! – Though not a best seller, it is an acclaimed scent by critics and has a spicy “animal” feel to it.

Fleur de Liane – This smells very green, very moist, like being in the tropical end of the Botanical Garden.

Most perfume names are pretty straight forward in revealing what you’re smelling like L’Artisan’s European best seller, Mûre et Musc, also the oldest scent created in 1978. I may be a perfume neophyte, but I certainly have never smelled anything like these before.

Informational

When Ciara was rattling off the different smells in each perfume, I asked her in general exactly how many different fragrances are there in a single bottle? To my surprise, one bottle can contain up to 40 different fragrances! Many of which are broken down into a pyramid of perfume notes. As she explained it, there are 3 stages to perfume notes: top, middle (heart) and base notes.

Top notes will be the first to hit your nose thus if I were to smell the Piment Brûlant, I’d smell the peppers first.

Heart notes will be the smell you will experience once the top notes fade thus giving you a second pause if you like the smell.

Base notes are the scents that will cling to you in the long run for up to 7-8hrs and you won’t notice them until much later.

I was given a glimpse of the pyramid chart and noticed that each note consisted of 3 to 4 different fragrances each, many of which I had no idea what fragrances they were.

Extract, Eau de Parfum, Eau de Toilette, Cologne

Dilution of a fragrance is a cause of concern in the perfume industry as it was so pointed out by Dana Thomas in “Deluxe”. Here I was given a breakdown as to what exactly these words mean.

Extract – The most concentrated type of perfume where the odor is strong and pure. Few people can probably handle extracts thus would choose something less imposing. These are pretty uncommon to find and if you can find them, they are usually offered in smaller vials.

Eau de Parfum – Also not commonly found save for a few exceptions, this is probably the strongest most people will wear.

Eau de Toilette – This is the most common form of perfume grade using a diluted formula.

Cologne – This is the weakest form of perfume and is heavily diluted.

Most perfumes at L’Artisan are Eau de Toilette, while the best sellers like Mûre et Musc (which also has an extract  version) and La Chasse aux Papillons will have Eau de Parfum. Special editions are due to an exceptional harvest of a certain fragrance such as Iris or Narcissis in previous releases. Unlike Chanel and Hermès though, L’Artisan does not grow its own flowers.

Collaboration with Bottega Veneta and Burberry

L’Artisan’s collaboration for Bottega Veneta in 2005 was to develop 4 different candles for each season, with matching smell packets. The candles were wrapped with Bottega’s iconic weaving leather and the packets were also weaved in leather in different colors. When it comes to scent, the ones developed for this luxury brand were “very Italian”.

Indeed, who wouldn’t think of old Italy when they described one of their scents like “napping in the library of an old villa in the Veneto countryside.”

Smelling the candle, the scent holds to its promise remarkably. The second candle I smelled was like I was in a vegetable garden, appropriately described that it was made with tomato and basil leaves.

The Bottega Veneta scents were created by veteran nose (perfume talk for “designer”), Olivia Giacobetti, who had worked with the company for 13 years (1993-2006), whose portfolio include John Galliano and Agnès b.

Burberry’s collaboration is quite recent, with their 4th candle about to be released soon called “Hay,” which I’m assuming will smell like – well, hay. One of them smelled like burnt wood, as you would smell in a cabin in the forest burning wood in the fireplace (of course).

When asked how these collaborations came to be, I was told that  these luxury brands have approached L’Artisan to develop these distinct candle smells knowing that the company was capable of reproducing such fragrances with impressive exactitude. Unfortunately, they couldn’t give me more details than that since they weren’t directly involved in the development process (too bad!).

Beyond

L’Artisan has also ventured out towards other scented products like room sprays, potpourri dispensers through their Amber balls, and even luxe mini pillow/sachet cases for women’s lingerie. They currently have one in-house nose, Bertrand Duchaufour,  and  are planning to release a limited edition line next year sold exclusively in their Paris Flagship store. The bottles will be designed by a famous glass blower. You can kiss your chances goodbye in trying to acquire one – one flask will be priced at about $20,000. As for the regular line at the Ogilvy, the price range is more affordable – between $95-$135 a bottle.

I’ve merely scratched the surface of perfumes, though I didn’t come out with any favorites, L’Artisan Parfumeur was definitely a brand that created scents like no other. Most of the scents were not really of fruit base like Body Shop or Dans Un Jardin, nor was it trying to be a designer scent like Armani, Givenchy or Gucci. This specialized company stands on its own, and aims to recreate scents nobody would think could be turned into a fragrance.

Now…if only I can determine which scent I liked most…

Image credits: L’Artisan Parfumeur

Au Coeur De La Mode Nov 16th, 2008

This fashion charity event will hold its bi-annual sale at Palais Des Congres, where the $5 entrance fee will be donated to the AIDS Foundation. Once again local brands will hoist up theirs goods with prices slashed above 50% off. You’ll find a good mix of local and popular European brands like Miss Sixty and Horst. It’s a huge sales floor, so you can be there for hours.

Ogilvy en rose Nov 19th, 2008

This yearly charity fashion event will be hosted at Ogilvy on Ste-Catherine promising schmoozing and entertainment, as well as a 15% discount (in essence, sans taxes) on items sold on the floor. There will be of course a fashion show, some local celebrities, and a contest to win some prizes. Tickets are steep, $100 each. Funds raised will go to the Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation.

Winners all year round

What can I say, this place is always on sale.

It’s no doubt that if the shrinking confidence consumers continue on, there are strong chances stores may close all together. Following lay offs in all corners of the market, one has to wonder who will be hit next. Even NRDC, owner of the recently acquired The Hudson Bay Company, will have to face some serious challenges in this dreary economic climate. On CNNMoney.com, Lord & Taylor recently replaced their CEO with a Neiman Marcus executive as they all brace for one of the worst holiday seasons in recent years. Bad economies could put the Hudson Bay Co. at risk of suffering more loses and reputation despite of their recent buyout.

Timing is of essence in business, and there are no worse timings than J. Crew’s recent store opening of their brand new high end store. Ouch. Let’s just hope Millard Drexler, responsible for launching The Gap into stardom in the 90s, knows how to weather this nasty financial storm.

Namely, it is a fashion magazine and online store rolled into one. Quite obvious I know, but a deeper contemplation made me realize that online stores in general do not necessarily have the written editorial to tout their new products in a magazine format. Think of reading Vogue and be able to buy exactly what they’re saying is the hottest item of the season on the spot, instead of dragging yourself to the store, hope the store actually carries the item, if not, special order, and go through all the hooplahs one might go through to get the item.

We’re a lazy generation. I admit that many of you probably enjoy the going through the entire “hunting” experience of getting what you want, but I think it’s becoming increasingly difficult to ignore our need for instant gratification.

Online stores like Saks, Neiman, Forever 21, Piperlime and Zappos display their array of products and merely announce new arrivals, not quite hyping them up like Net-a-porter does. It also helps that Net-a-porter suggests looks and combinations, and allows you to really zoom in and analyze in full detail parts of the garment since it isn’t possible to do so in person.

I’m not suggesting all stores should start posting online editorials – however, I wouldn’t find it too shabby as a strategy to get more people to buy the products, especially if the store is selling different brands. Holt Renfrew and Ogilvy could perhaps benefit of such a move, especially when Holts already establishes a relationship with their clients with their aggressive call-to-action weekly newsletter. If both stores could offer online shopping and free shipping delivery (for shoes to start), they could definitely boost sales in these harsh economic times. Shoppers tend to shift to online stores when the market is down, so it would only be natural to take advantage of the online medium to keep sales afloat.

With the right combination of marketing and savvy management of an online store and proper, relevant, editorial content, I think clothing stores should consider this as a Plan B.

Image Credit: Versace from Holt Renfrew

Which puts into question as to where Montreal fashion is going business wise. Montreal Fashion Week is coming next month, I really wonder who the buyers are and where they come from. Last fall I attended Fashion Week on behalf of GLOSS, and was surprised that that there were only about a dozen notable designers showing for a total of a mere 3 days. Even our most coveted designer, Andy The-Anh, showcased his collection in Toronto’s L’Oreal Fashion Week in hopes to catch a larger audience. It would appear that the Montreal market hasn’t attracted enough buyers (international and local) to come to our fashion week despite a recent multimillion dollar investment from the Quebec Government.

Ralph Lauren Fall 2008. Simple and could definitely sell.

Muse by Christian Chenail Fall 2007. Could also sell, but are they selling?

 

I made a round yesterday to Ogilvy‘s and only saw Marie Saint Pierre’s name as the only local designer on the store’s 2nd floor. Holt Renfrew did have Rad Hourani’s collection, but where are the M Siamo’s, Philippe Dubuc’s and Andy The-Anh’s in these stores? More over, there are so many specialized boutiques that it’s hard to pinpoint which stores carry which lines, making shopping even harder especially for smaller brands. Not to mention that local designers have to compete with many European imports like Mango, Zara, H&M, and Mexx to big brand designer names like Chanel, Dior and Gucci in the high end sector. Let’s not forget that even our own proud canadian sports label Roots has been shoved aside to make way to American Eagle Outfitters downtown.

Having a good business model is essential to survive in the industry, so far it’s hard to think of one Canadian label in particular which has successfully incorporated themselves into international waters on a grand scale. But unlike Europeans and Americans, Montreal fashion designers currently aren’t attractive enough for financial honchos to invest into their brands. Though $82 million is a generous amount from the Quebec Government, it’s peanuts when the likes of other designers get the same amount for a SINGLE brand in a SINGLE year. It’s not enough to be a designer, it’s now essential to have a working business model. If Canada, even more so Montreal, wants to compete with the big guns they will have to find a way to boost their visibility on a grand scale and be aggressive. We’re being much too docile to newcomers, praising and coddling them through magazines isn’t enough, they need to be able to sell their clothes to buyers and establish some loyalty amongst their shoppers.

Image credits: Style.com, Muse Christian Chenail