Interview with Annie de Grandmont; La Gaillarde Coordonnatrice

Every boutique is unique but La Gaillarde in Montreal is perhaps one of the most unique boutiques in the country. Tucked in a quite corner in St. Henri, this non for profit boutique is a glimmering example of what hard work, cooperation, and love can do for the fashion industry.

The Boutique

The boutique is divided into three sections: second hand, vintage, and ethical creations. The second hand collection is Sally Ann cheap and sweet finds abound! The vintage section is a good collection of higher quality second hand stuff for all you vintage lovers willing to spend a bit more cash for the right piece. In the ethical creations section, they carry over 30 designers, mostly in recycled material but you can also find some of oom’s pieces in organic cotton

Boutique La Gaillarde

Events, Promotion, and Contracts

Being located far from the popular shopping spots of the city, La Gaillarde has had to work very hard to get people in the door. On top of that, selling the wears of emerging designers, sometimes lacking in experience, has forced this boutique to be creative and structured at the same time.

Events

La Gaillarde organizes about 10 fashion events a year to promote the store and their designers. The boutique coordinator, Annie de Grandmont, explained that the events “bring people here, people meet the designers, because a lot of designers come to the events, they can put a face on whoever’s behind the clothes, people really enjoy that.”

Promotion

They put a lot of effort into promotion, especially for the events. They send out press releases, emails, and flyers.

Contracts

In retail, image is more than critical and in order to maintain a high quality image while not excluding young designers, La Gaillarde introduced a contract, which stipulates things like seasonal deadlines, minimum number of pieces to a collection, tags, business cards, and quality control. They even provide support for designers who are new at the game and need some help with meeting the contract requirements. Annie explains that the contract and guidelines are there “so that the designers know what to do, yes sometimes it could slow them down a little bit but it’s for the good of everyone. It’s really too help the industry, help the designers, promote their collections better, make it look more professional”

Environment and Community

A lot of designers I’ve talked to in Montreal say they got their start at La Gaillarde and it’s not hard to believe, this boutique puts a lot of effort into helping the designers they carry. And it all started with an environmental mission: to reuse and recycle clothing, but as Annie explained, “helping the local economy is associated with the environment, it’s part of it.” I couldn’t agree with her more, the environment and the people who live in it are intrinsically connected, to truly help one; you have to help both. La Gaillarde even gets designers to give classes in the boutique on how recycled your wardrobe, they’re a real part of the community.

La Gaillarde is an inspiring example of what an ethical fashion boutique can be and as Annie explained “it’s no longer just for hippies, we have beautiful dresses out there that you wouldn’t even tell are made from recycled clothing. We have 50-year-old ladies who come and buy those clothes not even knowing it is recycled.”

Whatever your type or style, I recommend checking out this truly unique boutique.