Taking its name from the French word meaning lucky find, Trouvaille is a new Toronto-based retail platform offering up a carefully curated collection of fashion, home decor, and lifestyle trinkets priced to fit even the slimmest of budgets. Handpicked pieces come spotlighted with magazine-style imagery and storytelling, including smart online features profiling international women of style and the wardrobes and abodes which define them.
The aim, explains founder Britt Barkwell, is to make great style affordable to anyone who wants it. “Young people who don’t want to spend a fortune hiring an interior designer or a personal shopper at an expensive department store will find this an accessible way of looking good and living well,” says Barkwell, who launched her site mid-August after working as an online editor at Holt Renfrew and Club Monaco. “It’s all about the edit.”
Capsule wardrobes, all reflecting Barkwell’s high-low style philosophy, are categorized according to key looks within a given season—for instance, a $450 linen-blend Frame blazer, $69 Levi denim shorts, and a $9.99 pair of Mango metal drop earrings, to mention just some of the chic finds located during a recent visit to the e-commerce site.
Similarly, interior design suggestions, ranging from mid-century lighting to gilded mirrors, are selected with a discerning eye focused on finding the best pieces at the best prices among the latest trends. Grooming products, ranging from Marvis whitening toothpaste to Jo Malone scented bath oil, go far in completing the package.
Handpicked pieces come spotlighted with magazine-style imagery and storytelling.
“It’s a holistic approach to living with style,” says Sasha Johnson, a former manager of digital content at Holt Renfrew who now works with Barkwell as Trouvaille’s editorial director.
While global in reach, the website’s online retail partners include only those that service and ship to the Canadian market, among them Net-a-Porter, H&M, and J.Crew. Both convenience and fairness are built into the mobile shopping experience. “There are no hidden fees or taxes that Canadian consumers need absorb,” Barkwell says. Furthering this emphasis on the domestic market, a portion of the site is given over exclusively to Canadian brands and locally sourced products.
Canadian women—among them New York–based fashion designer Tanya Taylor and Toronto writer Kim Bozak, who co-authored the patriotic coffee table book, Glorious & Free—also feature prominently in the site’s engaging Something Lovely story series. These shoppable articles include items that can be customized to users following their participation in an online style questionnaire. Once completed, you’ll also receive a styling guide and personalized digital shopping list honing in on specific pieces from the site.
Complementing the bespoke shopping experience are one-on-one follow-up consultations conducted through email or over the phone. “We are very streamlined,” Barkwell emphasizes. “We make it easy to find great style online.”
Indeed, Trouvaille lives up to its name by making online shopping feel more akin to a treasure hunt where each foray unearths a lucky find.
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