Inside it’s bubbling with excitement and laughter. A miniaturized cat-walk is set up in the center of the store. Models dressed in recycled clothes are posing while photographers kneel to get low angles. Patrons and volunteers mingle with designers and photographers.
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| Image from Day Blog |
“[La Gaillarde] is a non profit organization. We sell local recycled designs from about twenty local designers who create from different fabrics. It could be old clothes they cut up and re-sew, it could be end of the lines from other stores... The idea is to use creativity to make new products from old products,” said David Alexander Faber, the manager at La Gaillarde.
La Gaillarde hosts events nearly every month. Sometimes they’re cocktail parties, sometimes they’re fashion shows. Friday night was a mix of both, the idea was that the models went to a party, took their coats off, had fun, and everyone was invited.
“We switch [events] from time to time because to do the full fashion show it takes much more of our time. And those events get so packed, people come to see the show and then they leave. So sale-wise it doesn’t work out so well,” said Annie de Grandmont, the director of La Gaillarde.
But there weren’t a lot of shoppers at the cocktail party. Nearly everyone is connected to La Gaillarde. Even the models aren’t professionals, nor do they have aspirations to be. They are just tall, beautiful women who have in one way or another come into contact with La Gaillarde and were welcomed into the community.
Luc Bourgeois is a documentary photographer who walked into the store one day with a camera around his neck. At the time he was just browsing, but now he’s La Gaillarde’s primary photographer.
“It’s almost a family sense, I’m like the cousin or something ... I think it’s important to have places where you can think about the environment and nurture those values. The way people relate with each other and the way people relate with the planet – that needs a place to live and I think this is one of those places,” said Bourgeois.
Recycled clothing isn’t a new concept, but it’s gaining popularity. La Gaillarde has existed in St. Henri for about ten years – seven years at this location. But it wasn’t until two or three years ago when environmentalism became more main stream, that the idea of recycled clothing started to catch on.
“It still has a bit of a bad image, like it’s granola or a hippy thing. Some people still have that in mind. We are trying to make them realize that it’s not. It’s very different, it’s for the planet but it’s a high-end store,” said Sophie Lauzière, a volunteer with La Gaillarde.
The designers are all local but the styles at La Gaillarde are wide-ranging. Some of it is vintage, some of it is casual and some of it is higher-end. Lauzière showed off her dress: a simple black number adorned with a pattern made out of metal zippers. Like most of the clothes here, it’s simplistic yet unique.
Manufacturers donate excess fabric that has been left over. Not that long ago they used to just throw it away. According to De Grandmont, organizations like the Salvation Army are overcrowded with used clothes that no one wants. Designers take all of this and turn it into brand new, modern designs.
“The whole concept in general is so cool because I’m forever having remnants of fabric on any jobs that I’ve done ... you always end up with some extra at the end and it costs a fortune ... I can’t bear to just put it in the garbage because I could use it,” said Stephanie Davis. Davis designs wedding gowns and cocktail dresses for higher end stores in Montreal.
La Gaillarde is not the only store offering recycled clothes, there are about a dozen in Montreal and more in other cities. It seems that although the cocktail party attracted mostly friends and family, recycled clothes are here to stay.
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