C'est La Vie Consignment Boutique

These days, a walk down Vancouver’s busy Main Street corridor will bring you past a variety of second-hand clothing stores. But back in 2002, C’est La Vie was one of the only shops in the neighbourhood offering quality consignment and vintage fashions. The owner of the trendy, hot-pink boutique is Faustine Faure, a Paris-born fashionista who moved to BC and fell in love with the world of consignment and vintage North American style.

“I always loved vintage,” she says, recalling her days in Paris where she worked for years in antiques, vintage stores and flea markets — or “friperies” as they’re called in France. When she arrived in Vancouver, the concept of consignment was new and exciting. She got right on board and became a consigner at several local shops.

When she finally opened her own boutique, Faustine wanted the business to reflect her French roots. “I wanted to find a French name,” she remembers. And it’s not just the brand that keeps those cultural ties strong. The shop’s selection of new and vintage clothes, all hand-picked by Faustine herself, is eclectic and elegant — exactly the style you’d expect to see in a boutique in the City of Love. “I go to France a lot to get inspired and to see friends and family, and I actually buy and bring back some unique items,” she says.