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April 30, 2010
C’est la vie for fashionistas
Faustine Faure brings her French sense of style to Vancouver.
OLGA LIVSHIN
“When it comes to matters of fashion, one must never forget the importance of a French accent.”
– from With This Ring by Amanda Quick
The French phrase “C’est la vie” is used in English so often that it has a separate entry in Webster’s English dictionary. It means: “That’s life.” C’est la vie is also the name of a consignment boutique on Vancouver’s Main Street. The quaint pink store is a favorite among the fashionable crowd and, in 2010, it was voted a bronze winner in the West Ender’s 13th annual Best of the City competition. Owned by Vancouverite Faustine Faure, the store lives up to its name; it’s truly a big part of Faure’s life.
The daughter of a fashion designer mother, Faure is a fashionista with deep roots. Her maternal grandfather was a fur merchant in Warsaw, a foxy Jew who spent the Second World War in France, hiding under the Nazis’ noses. From him and from her mother, Faure inherited her unerring eye for fashion, her keen understanding of retail business and her ability to calculate risk. Perhaps that’s why her store is doing well even during the recession, when so many small businesses have been forced to close.
Although Faure was born in Canada, she grew up in Paris, France. At 15, she left school. Eager to broaden her horizons, she traveled to India and spent a year on an Israeli kibbutz. It was working at Parisian flea markets and second-hand stores where she learned the value of vintage clothing and acquired her profound knowledge of brand names and fashion labels of the world. Her experience in the antiquity business had added the patina of polished sophistication to her image. In 1995, she brought her penchant for fashion trends to Vancouver.
From the very beginning, when she discovered Vancouver consignment and vintage stores, she fell in love with the concept. “Consignment stores are a Vancouver phenomenon,” she told the Independent. “There are none in Montreal and very few in France, although second-hand stores are common. In a second-hand store, the owner buys his merchandize first and then tries to sell it. In a consignment store, the owner takes consignments from clients. It’s less risk than a second-hand store but definitely more paperwork.”
Soon after arrival, while she learned English and worked retail jobs, she started doing some consignment of her own. Using her impeccable taste for clothing and her fashion erudition, she rummaged through garment sections of local second-hand stores and re-sold her finds in consignment stores. “At some point, it became more than a hobby, almost a second job,” she recalled.
In 2002, following her passion for fashionable clothing to its logical conclusion, she opened her own consignment store, C’est La Vie. “It was that or waitressing,” she said with a smile. “I was terrified of the risks but I didn’t want to be a waitress forever.”
Faure loves her store. She keeps it immaculately clean and visually attractive, creating an atmosphere of old-world elegance in her small domain. She takes delight in the hip clothing she sells, especially the vintage items of the 1940s and 1950s. “It’s a treasure hunt every day. There is a thrill in finding treasures in the garbage bags people bring for consignment. Every day, when I open a bag, there is a mystery: what will I find there?”
With more than 2,000 consignments in her store on an average day, from clothing and shoes to offbeat accessories, Faure keeps meticulous records. “I’m a very organized person,” she commented. And she has to be to survive in today’s competitive business environment.
Obeying the demands of her business and her own inclinations, she constantly researches emerging trends, pours over fashion magazines and visits clothing retail giants like Holt Renfrew to feel the pulse of what’s in style. “Fashion is moving very fast; trends changing every season,” she said. To keep in touch with the fluid currents of fashion, she travels to Europe every 18 months or so, spending time in such fashion centres as Paris, Barcelona and Berlin.
She enjoys helping Vancouverites to dress with style. “People can shop in my store for beautiful, unique clothing and they don’t have to spend a fortune. If they shop in a mall, everyone looks like everyone else.” According to Faure, looking like everyone else is inadvisable.
She herself dresses extremely well. Nobody could mistake Faure’s personal style. Utterly original, it fits her unconventional personality – chic, funky and faintly European – although she buys most of her wardrobe in her store. “It’s important for me to dress well. It inspires people to buy in C’est La Vie. For me, dressing is like art, one of the pleasures of the morning: to find something new and different to wear. It’s fun.”
C’est La Vie is located at 3247 Main St. Faure can be contacted at 604-876-2284.
Olga Livshin is a Vancouver freelance writer. She is available for contract work. Contact her at [email protected].
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