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Vancouver is home to a thriving fashion industry made up of individuals committed to its growth and success. Get to know these personalities in The Inseam and discover what makes the Vancouver Fashion scene so awesome. |
Photo courtesy of One of a Few.
Just as the name implies, One of a Few is a collection of unique, carefully curated pieces housed in your girlfriend’s dream closet – complete with curtain change rooms, antique décor and an upstairs loft. Next door, Two of a Few, a more spacious area that serves as its sister store, holds both men’s and women’s clothing for the discerning eye.
One of a Few was one of the first fashion boutiques to ignite growth in Gastown and ever since its inception over seven years ago, it has become a staple in the neighbourhood. Conveniently, I meet owner Michelle Rizzardo at one of the Gastown’s latest attractions, Revolver, to discuss her stores and how the community has progressed over the years.
Valerie Tiu: One of a Few was one of the pioneering boutiques in Gastown, and one of the first stores in the area that I fell in love with. How has the neighbourhood progressed recently?
Michelle Rizzardo: The last couple of years have been the biggest growth. It’s been just over seven years for One of a Few and Gastown has totally changed – with restaurants, clothing stores, and the traffic that’s down here. When I first opened the shop and I was telling people that I was going into Gastown, people thought I was crazy. But I think that conversation [about Gastown] has changed, the energy has changed and the idea of it has changed. It’s a community driven area, and we have a lot of young entrepreneurs coming in. Everybody supports each other and you actually get to know your clients and they know the people that work there - it’s really welcoming.
VT: You mentioned that One of a Few has been open for seven years. How has the store evolved?
MR: We started off quite feminine and girly, and we’ve obviously changed with style. But I think that the concept of the store has stayed the same. One of a Few has antiques in it, it’s like your girlfriend’s closet - you feel comfortable with the lighting and you can change and you don’t have to feel the pressure of being in a fitting room where you have to buy something. For me it’s about playing with outfits, and that idea has stayed the same. Structurally, we built the loft in 2010, and there are little things that have changed along the way. But the clothing is always evolving.
VT: Did you always know that you wanted to open up your own store?
MR: No – I got a Psychology Degree from UVIC and I wanted to be a Grief and Loss Counsellor for kids that have lost a parent. I finished at 21 and I was a bit young to go straight into my Master’s so I went to Asia and I taught English for a couple of years. It was when I was in Vietnam when I thought, “This is what my store is going to look like.” I came back to Canada and I did business at BCIT and did the Entrepreneurship Program. It was fabulous because it helped me build a business plan. I didn’t necessarily know that opening a clothing store was a reality. I had worked in retail since I was 15 years old. I’ve done every aspect of what owning a clothing store does without realizing that it was the due diligence that I would need one day to open my own shop.
I still had intentions of going to Asia and getting my MBA but a lot of my mentors that I had been talking to were saying that I should really implement this business plan. My husband (Trevor Fleming of Lifetime Clothing) and best friend (Clothing Designer Dace) were both entrepreneurs so the two of them were like, “You could either sit on the fence and wonder what if and what it would have been like, or you could just do it.” I agreed and I’m so glad that I did. I love what I do.
VT: Who shops at One of a Few? Two of a Few?
MR: Is there a difference? There is – very much so. I never intended it to be different but I would say that the younger girls tend to gravitate towards Two of a Few and the older women definitely shop at One of a Few. It’s psychology because to be honest, we can pull clothing from Two of a Few and people in One of a Few will see it in a different light. The situation of it being in a different store makes people feel a certain way about the clothing.
People always ask why I don’t knock down the wall between the two stores and it’s because I love that there’s the question of what’s the difference, there’s the feeling that’s different when you walk into each store, and I love the momentum of going back and forth between the two stores. It keeps the energy going.
VT: You have a great eye for unique pieces. How do you go about curating these items?
MR: There are so many things that go into it, and it’s definitely changed over the years. I literally get hundreds of emails a day saying, “I’d really like this to be in your store”, and I go through every single one. I meet so many people when I’m at tradeshows. I meet with a designer and they’re friends with this person, and they show me their product and then relationships build that way. I really like that part of it – I’m a huge relationship builder with customers, clients and designers. It helps because it’s easy to sell a product that you feel passionate about. It’s really word of mouth. When I travel, I’m always working. We’re constantly going into shops and looking at the latest, coolest thing and chatting with other people because we love it, we feed off of it.
VT: Can you describe your most memorable experience at One of a Few/Two of a Few?
MR: The most memorable are when I first opened. It was three years later that I opened Two of a Few, and each time we did all the labour ourselves. All of my friends and family came down, and we had pizza and we were all painting. Now when they come in, they’re like, “Oh that’s the section that I painted!” They take ownership in what we all did together.
Pulling that paper down on the first day and starting this venture is huge and significant in itself. Probably my first sale – those are from the beginning of the time frame but those memories don’t really go away.
VT: What’s next for you?
MR: We did the Pop Up Shop in One of a Few. It’s been Gypsy Market Vintage for a long time because it’s just done so well. We’re going to move her stuff down to the regular floor and we are doing a kids pop up shop in the fall.
VT: What makes the Gastown neighbourhood so special?
MR: It’s the fact that you can walk into all of these shops and you see a creative and different element in each one. Whether it’s a coffee shop, restaurant or clothing store, everybody knows each other. Everybody talks about each other in a positive light. People come to Gastown and they have an experience.
