A Trou Canadian Fashionista
It didn’t take long from the time I walked into Boutique Le Trou’s fashion shop on Toronto’s trendy Queen Street West that I discovered the reasons its clientele shop there.
Chunky necklaces in jade made by a local artisan, polar fleece-lined sweaters with skulls and crossbones in mohair (one with pink stripes, perfect); even a feathered mirror, a bird cage chandelier and racks of clothes made by a mixture of emerging Canadian fashion designers. Yet the real reason I was there was to meet with the shop’s owner, Marlene Shiff, who’s commonly referred to as a mother figure by this nation’s fashion industry for her role in providing a platform to showcase Canada’s emerging design talent.
Shiff herself is as vibrant as her hand-picked boutique clothes, poised with a bright blue streak in her hair, she’s both stylist and salesperson for the clients she meets. She easily quick-changes into multiple shrugs (some reversible) throughout the course of our meeting and literally knows her pieces inside out; reciting price tags, the designers name and the ranges of sizes from memory. Her breadth of knowledge and experience (she’s designed and worked with Bob Mackie and Holt Renfrew) keeps her selling the product while the designers focus on their work. It comes to her naturally, she’s grew up in the industry.
Her father manufactured ladies wear in Toronto and she learned every aspect of designing: how patterns are laid, what the finisher does, understanding production and cutting to name a few. As a kid she would design clothing and the tailors would make them for her, at the age of 12 she even designed a gown for her sister.
From then on, she ventured into designing her own pieces (she shows me a funky belt she constructed out of a floor runner) and garments, even moving to L.A. where she crossed over to home accessories. It wasn’t until one fateful week in back in September 2001 where three events occurred that caused her move back to Toronto. Her last design contract had ended, there was an earthquake, and the attacks of September 11th happened.
When she arrived home, she found the fashion community was much different than the 70s and 80s hubbub of activity she had come to know so closely. After a brief stay at Holt Renfrew as a salesperson, she started working at Boutique Le Trou to help design and develop with friends Carmen Carrubba and then owner, Luigi Carrubba. About three seasons in, and after a long night and a few sips of champagne, Shiff ended up buying the store from Luigi. It was then that she realized she was meant to be the springboard to help change the perception of Canadian fashion and launch young Canadian designers.
Since then, the store has undergone physical changes and expanded lengthwise into what was an apartment when the building’s owner made a shift in its residents.
Shiff’s fresh approach leads her to look for three things when she’s selecting the clothes for her shop: pricepoint, compatibility of the designer and approach. From this, she's helped feature designs by up-and-commers like Jason Matlo, Jason Meyers, Zoran Dobric and Nada. Her industry connections and prowess for presentation and style help many designs get featured on many notables at awards shows and gala's.
To build on her successful career, she’s even starting her own private label at the store together with Marina Serozini called Trou Love. There’s much more in store from this true Canadian fashionista! Check out boutiqueletrou.com for more info!
Back to Designers
Comments (1)
Add to Del.ici.ous
Digg this
Facebook