The Yuccie Guide to Vancouver

By Vitamin Daily

We were one of the 190,000-odd people with whom David Infante‘s recent article on yuccies has been shared so far. (Sparknotes: yuccies are 20-30-something urban creative professionals who’ve mixed the artiness of hipsterism with the capitalistic-careerist predilections of yuppie-hood to produce a whole new generational subgenre). The term packs some hard-to-ignore inherent unattractiveness (or, uh, yuckiness) but while, like the monikers which begat it, ‘yuccie’ connotes privilege, it most pointedly seeks to encapsulate a commitment to making one’s creative passion lucrative. Very Andy Warhol circa that  "Making money is art and working is art and good business is the best art" quote. While we’d cavil about some of the associations Infante makes with the pursuit of artistic-entrepreneurship, we kind dig the ‘yuccie’ profile. After all, Vancouver is exactly the kind of challenging, expensive, rapidly gentrifying urban environment where young professionals are seeking creative ways to thrive personally and financially, and some of our most-loved new businesses fit the bill. Herewith, are our favourite examples of Vancouver Yuccie-dom. 

• The Outfit: Kit & Ace

  By Vitamin Daily

  Have you met Kit? She’s Kit & Ace’s fictionalized poster-girl. She changes into relax-fit light-wash blue jeans and the perfect white t after Ride Cycle Club, then uses her delicate-ring bedecked fingers to pick apart thick-sliced, fresh-baked grain bread toast with grassfed butter. If given a choice, Kit would prefer to sit cross-legged. Kit & Ace rules the yuccie marketing game by combining a neat-o understated functional-luxury product (technical cashmere) with a good dose of community engagement (they throw parties in rooms where the exposed brick walls are thick with the work of young local art-stars) and a engaging brand “story” (Kit! Kit looking sexily ruffled and drawing squares in a notebook with a felt-tip pen!). Even their clothes come with creative identities, like our favourite new tank top, the Mara, "made for the Monday mornings when you wake up in a slight daze but need to reflect a Thursday kind of go-getter attitude…" We give them our money ‘cause we feel like they know us! #liveauthentic #everydaystories

• The Social Event: This Open Space

  By Vitamin Daily

  This Open Space is a really neat concept. They seek out unused spots and help small businesses (who otherwise would be unable to afford pricy local rent) grow their profiles and customer bases by launching well-produced pop-ups. The double-whammy here is This Open Space simultaneously provides social opportunities far more palatable to the yuccie than visiting a nightclub (the yuccie prefers watching Wim Wenders films while smoking hydroponic weed, staying in to co-work n’ cuddle with their s/o, or meeting friends for a dinner or dulse broth and alkaline noodles to clubbing of any sort). Still, a yuccie’s gotta show off their esoteric vintage billow-y pants to more than just Instagram sometimes, and the kinds of interactive art shows, boutique launch parties, and unexpected pop ups (remember rave yoga? We do) This Open Space champions make for the perfect social gatherings with social purpose.  

• The Beauty Product: Vitruvi

  By Vitamin Daily

  Functional luxury strikes again! The product is aromatherapy blends to help you work through your day, from a sparky “wake” fragrance to boost you out of bed to a spicy “do” one with aphrodisiac qualities to get you back in there. Sold in glass roller balls, the esthetic is key: post-nu-age ayahuasca mystic vibes in hues of sci-fi cult monastery white, Tibetan singing-bowl bronze, amethyst pink and the ashy fir-green of smudge sticks. Vitruvi really taps into a yuccie sense of spiritualism: a non-denominational one guided by a distinct mix of Susan Miller horoscopes, one’s own sense of purpose, the universe in relation to that sense of purpose, and optionally occasional references to an indeterminate “goddess.” We like Gaia! Anyway, Vitruvi isn’t perfume: it’s olfactory guidance. Smells like yuccie spirit!

• The Drink: Nectar Juicery

  By Vitamin Daily

  Nectar’s brick-and-mortar opens July 7th, but when we dropped by to chat with co-founder Tori Holms during the construction process, she told us she was catering to yuccies with juice-growlers and adaptogen lattes doctored with vitamin tinctures to cosset whatever vibe the universe has sent each individual customer that day. The lattes are made with a base of "warm, thick strawberry almond milk." (Say that aloud and try not to transform into the hearts-for-eyes-kitty emoji face). Nectar has it all: an awesome holistic entrepreneur backstory and the goal of providing physical health and metal clarity to customers, plus a locally-designed light fixture shaped to abstractly reflect the life-cycle of a seed. As far as chic-holistic-spirituo wellness goes, this juice bar is set to be on its own astral plane; our souls are watering already.  

• The Snack: Cartems

  By Vitamin Daily

  Yuccies are health-conscious, but the concept of dieting is too old-fashioned, repressive, obnoxious, and frankly sexist to resonate with them. Rather, what does strike a chord is reasonable balance and well-made treats in moderation. Cartems Donuterie was inspired by a literal dream, employs trucks that run on recycled frying oil, and packs its rotating small batch stuffies with local, organic, in-season fruit. While demonstrably community-oriented, Cartems did solidify its status as an emblem of gentrification by launching its inaugural pop up in the Downtown Eastside, where the optics of $4 donuts in a struggling community were rough. However, Cartems’s bit of a rocky start does make item 3 on Infante’s "Are You A Yuccie" checklist ("Doesn’t like gentrification in theory; loves artisanal donuts in practice") hilariously accurate. Your move, Cartems!