Euro-stash

>>From Paris and the U.K. to Italy and Scandinavia, four Montreal stores do their part to bring the best from abroad

by GENEVIEVE PAIEMENT and SIOBHAN O'CONNOR
photos by Denis Lefebvre

Let's face it: North Americans have a permanent boner for Europe. Take, for example, those Alberto's European Styling Mousse commercials ("It's You-row-pee-an? It must be good!"). We have a fascination for the mystique, the sophisticated allure of European fashion--just like they are in awe of our fast food and big cars.

So what's a Europhile to do in a town where Gaps and Le Châteaus stand smirking on every corner, reminding us of our distinctly North-American collective style?

Look a little closer: around the corner from your average streetwear emporium is a new breed of small, unassuming, impeccably designed Euro-boutiques. We decided to find out who's behind them and what fiendish fashion schemes they're pulling off. What we discovered were folks on mini-

missions to bring Montreal some European styling, and succeeding.

Oh la la, Lolita!
St-Denis' Lolita Jaca is a tres Paris transplant

Nestled in the high-concentration resto-boutique shopping strip of St-Denis between des Pins and Duluth, is a purple powderpuff of a place specially tailoured for ladies who know a good girly detail when they see (or smell) it. Sweet perfumed incense swims through the air, soft, deep purple carpeting cushions your every step and lilac-coloured walls simulate being inside a giant lavender-scented sachet. This is Boutique Lolita Jaca, standing proudly opposed to your typical minimalist, white-walls-and-four-folded-shirts semi-upscale clothing shop.

This unabashed bastion of femininity is the brainchild of Fabi Jaca, who divides her time between Montreal, St-Barth (the Caribbean island where her other shop is and where she winters, poor thing!) and Paris (where all the clothes come from). "I have created a cozy boudoir feeling because I see it more as a salon than a store," she says. "It's got a kind of old-fashioned ambiance of femininity and warmth." Antoine & Lili plastic fuschia chandeliers and sparkly beaded change-room curtains reinforce the understated girliness. She and her sister Nanou are there most of the time, giggling together, ready to help bring out "a woman's inner elegance. My idols are women like Audrey Hepburn and Jackie Kennedy--women with individuality and presence. I just love femininity and I want to perpetuate it," Jaca gushes.

But as advertising executives would say, this is not your mother's demure, cotton floral femininity. This is feathers and embroidered leather, peek-a-boo cut-outs, sexy but refined shapes, fringes and sumptuously hairy cashmere sweaters. Jaca's chosen colours for this fall: burnt orange, deep turquoise, beigey mustard. Parisian lines like Paul & Joe, Kali, Noir Ebene, Antoine et Lili, are the stars and Marion Godard's accessories play a supporting role. Although on the higher side of the mid-to-high-end quality and price range, you can be pretty sure you won't spot your splurge on anybody else in town. Although business is brisk, Montrealers are not as impulsive as Parisian, New Yorker or even St-Barth shoppers. "Montrealers are more conservative. But some women come in and say, 'Finally!' So I think they're coming around."

Jaca doesn't have any far-reaching fashion philosophies beyond fun, fun, fun. "I don't make any excuses--I know clothes are superficial, but I've lived a love story with fashion ever since I was a little girl. And now I'm all grown up and I get to play with big, living dolls." (GP)

Boutique Lolita Jaca, 3915 St-Denis, 842-1222

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