It's January and, as you'd expect, clothing stores are well stocked with cozy sweaters, pea coats, leather boots and all manner of wooly accessories.
While couture designers may have debuted their spring/summer 2016 collections last fall, it's a few weeks yet before retailers start bringing in lighter fare for the warm-weather months. The traditional fashion industry calendar poses a shopping predicament for those lucky enough to escape the winter chill and head to sunnier destinations this season: where to find hot climate apparel?
For jet-setters who don't have summer gear tucked away in their closets and aren't handy with a sewing machine, the answer lies in resort wear. A relatively recent branch of the fashion industry, resort wear is a specialized clothing category that doesn't adhere to the annual fashion cycle. Available in the dead of winter, these collections cater to vacationers heading to tropical and desert locations. West Vancouver familyrun boutique LeslieJane has amassed a substantial following of travellers in the few years it's been carrying resort clothing. In fact, most of the store's regular customers are out of town right now - some of them for weeks at a time.
"Our clients are going to Mexico, going to North Africa, going to the South of France, Hawaii - so what are they going to wear?" says owner Paul Giesbrecht.
In addition to the store's regular women's wear offerings, he's curated a selection of destination pieces by European designers including Manuelle Guibal (France), La Bottega di Brunella (Italy) and 120% Lino (Italy). This year, LeslieJane actually co-designed the Manuelle Guibal Resort Collection, hand-picking colours and styles exclusive to the Ambleside boutique.
When selecting a colour palate for this collaborative collection, Giesbrecht drew inspiration from Pantone's 2016 colours of the year: Rose Quartz (a soft pink) and Serenity (baby blue with a touch of purple). "That's the big thing this year, apparently," he says.
And when it comes to fabrics, linen is king in the resort wear world.
It's light-weight, breathable and packs exceptionally well.
"Because it has that natural texture to it, it travels well, because you can pull it out of a ball and put it on and the heat of your body will steam it, basically," Giesbrecht says.
Meanwhile, nautical motifs remain a popular vacation look and "scale" pieces are also popular. Look for comfy oversized garments that offer versatility of wear.
"There's a lot of play on scale and proportion," Giesbrecht says.
