les étoffes has fine cloth and attitude

Innovative design meets distinctive fashion at les Etoffes, a new clothing boutique on the Main.

What drew me in last winter was the vitrine - impeccably strewn with boots, bowlers, antique lace and trendy lamps. It was original, inventive, and highly textural, and had my mind spinning as I tried to come up with a narrative tying the elements together.

Then last month, a window displayed plastic human organs on a table set with Fiesta ware. What??

I knew the answer, though, even before one of the shop’s young owners pointed to the custom papier peint on the back wall. The wallpaper is a jaunty backdrop to the gorgeous clothes hanging from meat hooks affixed to grids on the ceiling.

Created by a Quebec designer, it parodies the French standard toile de jouy. Instead of beautiful women inked onto on a cream colored background, we see naked men performing various bodily functions. The meat hooks and cadaverous display are natural extensions of the theme.

Okay, edgy design - but what about the clothing?

Les étoffes means “fine cloth” and the shop carries new designers and quality used garments - distinctive shoes for men and women, and clothing for women - all made from top quality materials. Lines are classic, even minimal, and fabrics make shirts, jackets, and especially dresses, unforgettable.

Young Swedish designers Rodebjer, Carin Wester and Fifth Avenue Shoe Repair hang beside LA-based Grey Ant, and vintage pieces found in NY and Toronto warehouses. It’s sometimes hard to tell the used garments from the new. Visually and texturally, the place is a hit.

Conceptually, it’s full of surprises. There’s a pink kitchen in the back, visible through an opening in the wall at eye level - very feminine, and yet the offers to make a cappuccino while you shop come from Chris, the male half of the romantic and business partnership.

Diana, adorable in some of the lines they sell, or a hip mix of old and new, is a fabulous ad for their wares. It’s unlike anyplace else in Montreal.

If you go:  5253 Blvd St Laurent, open T W, 12-6, Th F 12-8, Sat Sun 12-6.  No website.