It's good to go home from time to time ... sort of. If you can tear yourself away from the warm embrace (read: smothering grasp) of your family to venture out into the real world, it's nice to reconnect with the people and places that once shaped and nurtured you. In between two legs of my last vacation, I did just that when I touched down briefly in Montreal, one of my former "homes". For those of you unfamiliar with Canada's most effortlessly stylish city (sorry Toronto), Montreal is a rare hybrid of Gallic style and sensibility combined with Anglo-saxon efficiency. The food is exquisite and varied, the people are friendly, the shopping is good and plentiful and the vibe is cool and laid back. OK, I'm not exactly objective but still, it's hard not to like Montreal.
Holt Renfrew department store, Sherbrooke Street, Montreal, Canada. Photo exclusive property of The Luxe Chronicles. All rights reserved.
I left Montreal a number of years ago to pursue professional opportunities and have since lived all over. When I occasionally return to my former home, I'm always curious to re-visit old haunts and make mental notes of what has changed and what remains the same. On this most recent trip, I couldn't help but notice the unmistakable effects of globalization. By this, I mean the subtle erosion of style identity that comes with the increasing sprawl of retail chains from one city to the next - Zara, Gap, Old Navy, H&M, Banana Republic, Mango, etc. There was a time when you strolled down St. Catherine Street or Sherbrooke Street in Montreal, there was a particularly Quebecois flavor to the street fashions you encountered. It's difficult to describe but if I had to articulate it, I would say that it was French chic but with a dash of Anglo-Saxon practicality thrown in for good measure. The effect was not unlike Montreal itself, faintly European yet thoroughly North-American all at once. On this most recent trip, I've detected a definite change. But for the French language signs and the snipits of French conversation here and there, St. Catherine Street, one of Montreal`s key shopping districts, doesn't look all that different from Oxford Street in London or certain stretches of Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. In fact, you have to truly make an effort to find local fashion talent. Usually, this entails not only going off the beaten track but practically embarking on a hunting expedition. I unfortunately didn`t have enough time to do this. I found this was true of Hong Kong as well where one is virtually inundated with global luxury brands but very little in the way of local fashion talent and flavor is immediately available to the roving eye.
One notable exception to the homogenization of global fashion is my beloved Holt Renfrew department store (owned by the Westin family who also own Selfridge's in London and Brown Thomas in Dublin). Located on the corner of Sherbrooke Street and rue de la Montagne in downtown Montreal, it offers a brilliantly edited selection of world-class designer brands and accessories. Holt Renfrew also has a tradition of featuring promising local talent within its hallowed walls alongside the internationally acclaimed fashion brands. I'm happy (and relieved) to say that this tradition remains intact.
The experience of strolling along Saint Catherine Street and rue de la Montagne reminded me of something London-based designer Allegra Hicks mentioned when I interviewed her for The Luxe Chronicles a few months ago - people are searching for something distinctive when they shop, something they can't find at home. With globalization, this is increasingly difficult to do as most brands are found most everywhere. Her solution to this is to search for treasures in vintage shops whenever she travels. I personally can't say I've ever really been bitten by the vintage bug but perhaps the quest for distinctive style is what fuels my enthousiasm for designers like Roland Mouret, Rick Owens, Duro Olowu and Pierre Hardy. These designers have (for now) a very limited distribution and so if you're lucky enough to score a RM Anvers Dress for instance, then you know that you actually have something that few others will have. It's that much easier to craft your style identity if you're the only one in your circle to have a particular dress or coat. I think that as the world becomes a smaller place, the urge to carve out a distinctive personal look will push us to seek out small, lesser-known designers that keep their brand from becoming diluted by over-expansion. In the era of global fashion, I suspect that the key to longevity and lasting influence will be "small and distinctive is beautiful".
Sincerely,
The Luxe Chronicles
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