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You know you’ve made it as a company, fashion or otherwise, when the street your business is headquartered on is renamed for you. So it is for Marc Cain, based in Bodelshausen, south of Stuttgart, on the newly minted Marc-Cain-Allee. Founded in 1973, the clothing brand isn’t just a hit in Germany, but is beloved by women throughout the rest of Europe, Russia and Asia. And, come June, Canadians—more specifically, Vancouverites—will be getting their very own Marc Cain boutique in Oakridge Centre (a clean white space boasting huge fitting rooms, flattering lighting and shimmering metallic walls in champagne tones, if the company’s other retail locations worldwide are any indication).
"We really felt Vancouver was the perfect spot for us in terms of what we’re all about," says Natalie Pare, who’s been managing the Marc Cain brand and running its wholesale division in Canada for several years. "Women in Vancouver are also very outdoorsy and aren’t afraid to keep things casual and, in terms of our stylish sportswear line, we feel we have a lot to offer them. The city really is the perfect fit."
True, the company does design an outstanding collection of what is often referred to as athleisure (including rhinestone-embellished leggings—want), but Marc Cain spans the spectrum of style from comfy and casual to office appropriate to social and sophisticated, offering thousands of items, from dresses to denim, sneakers to scarves, blazers to bags and power suits to pumps.
"Our collection is broad, with pieces designed to take our clients from Monday to Friday and into the weekend," Pare says. "We can take a lawyer from the office to dinner and a night out—and we can take her to the gym, too. Not only that, our clothes, shoes and accessories are designed to be easily mix and matched, and we offer many great tools, including lookbooks, catalogues and, in our stores, very, very experienced salespeople to help people pull all these things together."
On its website, Marc Cain also does shoppers the favour of grouping its seasonal new arrivals under trend-setting themes, like, currently, Cuban Soul, Tech Attack and, our personal favourite, Stripes & Cats (think jaguar key rings and tiger-patterned tops). Plus, nearly every item online offers “complete this look” suggestions—we can only assume the experience will be similar in store.
Pare chalks this incredible variety up, in a big way, to creative director Karen Veit, who “continually pushes the envelope on fashion and can dress a woman who’s more basic and likes classic pieces to someone who is very funky and avant-garde.” She also points to the company’s commitment to innovation; Marc Cain uses pioneering 3-D printing technology to create its own gorgeous knitwear.
“Beautiful prints and fabrics may actually be the foundation of our brand,” she adds. “I have customers who just melt over our fabrics. They say, ‘I just want to wrap myself in this.’ We actually call them our ‘fans,’ because whenever a new collection hits stores, every three weeks or so, they want first dibs. They’re actually texting our associates asking them to ‘please, please, reserve this for me.’ We love forming these relationships, and we love building looks and even entire wardrobes for our clients that they can wear season after season, year after year. It’s extremely gratifying.”
As for Pare’s personal picks from the Marc Cain collection? “I’m a big jean-and-suit-jacket girl and I always buy two to three of our blazers every season—they come in fun colours and I love the fit,” she says. “I will admit that I wore my Marc Cain fitwear all weekend long but, if there’s one piece I absolutely could not live without, it would have to be our pleather pants. They’re extremely comfortable and they keep their shape no matter what. In them you feel like you’re wearing pajamas but you look like a million bucks.” —Noa Nichol
Marc Cain, Oakridge Centre, 650 W. 41st Ave., Vancouver, marc-cain.com
Win! A $500 Marc Cain Shopping Spree
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