Get in Losers, We’re going shopping Somewear

Cover Photography by Ebony Davis

Meet Jacqueline Kitzan, the owner of Somewear Consignment Boutique, Edmonton’s first mobile consignment boutique. Her love of fashion began when she was a teenager, and as many teenagers do, began to try out different styles and trends. For her, fashion was more of a shopping experience than anything, and so the ultimate thrill was consuming fast fashion. On the other hand, her family growing up was far more thrifty than her own tastes, and often shopped at Goodwill together. While the experience was enjoyable for Jacqueline, at the time, thrifting and thrift stores were not as trendy as they are now, and she felt embarrassed about shopping second-hand. 

Today, she’s a far cry from the teenager who was embarrassed to shop second hand. As she grew up, she began to understand her own style and appreciate how thrifting as a teenager led her to examine her own role in being complicit with fast fashion. “Second-hand shopping began to be more than just a way to save money,” Jacqueline stated. As the proud owner of a consignment boutique in Edmonton, where consignment and shopping second hand in general has been slower to catch on, she’s happy to be part of the leading wave of new and long-term consignment shops in Edmonton. 

The inspiration for a mobile consignment shop came after Jacqueline visited one of her favourite Edmonton fairs -  Taste of Edmonton, a highly popular food truck festival. As she visited the fair, the idea of a food truck for clothes popped into her head and refused to leave. When she did some research out of curiosity, she found that it was being done in many places- just not Edmonton. Each step of her research ended up being another step closer to opening up her own business- whether it was researching travel trailers, meeting with the city, meeting with owners of other consignment boutiques or even flying to Vancouver to meet and shadow the owner of Vancouver Fashion Truck to see the operation of a mobile consignment boutique first hand.

Having finished renovations, Somewear Consignment Boutique will eventually operate out of Gray Hamilton, a 1977 Airstream Globetrotter travel trailer named after its previous owner, and will be ready to go out and about this late summer and fall. For those who aren’t familiar with the trailer, the 1977 Airstream Globetrotters is a cult classic for van life enthusiasts.

“What’s old is new again. The history of this Airstream trailer is community and adventure, two values that are dear to the Somewear brand.” The Airstream will be the perfect home for Somewear Consignment- recycling pre-loved items and finding them new homes for the present. 

Jacqueline draws inspiration for the boutique from nature, both the simplicity of it and the need to protect it. She points out that fast fashion is one of the largest polluters in the world and aims to fight that with her business. “The consignment model is one of the best ways to combat fast fashion and reduce the amount of textile waste in our landfills.” At the boutique, they promote conscious shopping, finding your own personal style, and ethically/sustainably made pieces over impulse buying and trendy fast fashion purchases. 

With that in mind and the small footprint of the Airstream, Jacqueline and her team are able to be extremely selective in what they stock in the boutique. The boutique has a limit on their consignors, making inventory manageable and easier for them to find highly sought after second-hand pieces. Classic, well-made and sustainably-made trendy pieces are all examples of what the boutique buys from consigners, especially pieces that reflect nature. One of Jacqueline’s favourite experiences with shopping second hand is finding unique, one of a kind pieces- a feeling she wants to recreate for every Somewear Consignment customer. She envisions in the future a unique, comfortable space where people will come in both for coffee and conversation, as well as find new-to-them clothing and accessories. 

Covid-19 impacted Jacqueline and the boutique on the timing of the launch of her business. Because of ongoing restrictions, health concerns and the lack of space for social distancing, the plans for the boutique to operate out of the Airstream were put on hold. She decided to pivot the business to an online model with a free local delivery model, and prepped the mobile boutique for when it would be safe to launch. Like many other businesses, she found that loungewear was the large bulk of her sales compared to other styles of clothing. One of the most important things she learned along the path of launching the boutique was not to tie herself down to any particular outcome, a philosophy that allowed her to be flexible even with the pandemic shut-down. In the future, whether Somewear Consignment remains as a mobile boutique, or if she opens up a physical location, Jacqueline finds the most joy in being intuitive and open to any kind of possibility. 

As for her personal style, Jacqueline herself prefers the 90’s aesthetic, with characters from hit tv shows such as Fran Fine from the Nanny, or Hilary Banks from the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air as inspiration. 

Her advice for anyone looking to start a business? Don’t be discouraged. While she faced many difficulties and roadblocks, including business owners who didn’t want to meet with her when she was in the stage of research, there were also many who were willing to collaborate and share with both established business and newcomers.

“Find the business owners who celebrate community and connection,” she suggests. “Edmontonians have a proud history of supporting businesses that make them feel like they are a part of something good. They want you to be successful.” 

You can shop their online store and keep up with Somewear Consignment’s journey on their website and Instagram handle (@somewear.ca). Be sure to check out our gallery for a behind the scene look of their first soft opening!