If there’s ever a place for grandiose sub-culture on display, it’s through the mullets, oblique-shaped shoes and oversized jeans modelled by fashion-fluent Montrealers. The city is known for its rich impact on the fashion world, from factories to one-of-a-kind boutiques, and still remains a museum for the evolution of fashion in Canada. There’s no other place on the island that exudes this culture other than St-Laurent Blvd. Whether the street influences the shops or vice versa, the path is less delineated, but the area believes in circularity in a way that feels intentional.

The hipster street is a heartline of the city’s prominent vintage and secondhand stores— the cultural nook of Plateau Mont-Royal and Mile End. It’s a prideful and artistic alternative to fast fashion conglomerates contrasted in downtown Ste. Catherine St.

St-Laurent offers a melting pot of luxury vintage finds, from upcycled garments to house props for award-winning movies. Proud Canadian brands like Maguire and Kotn choose this neck of the woods for their flagship stores, aligning with fashion authenticity and cultural nuance.

Nestled next to an unassuming burger joint sits Seconde, a shop so reflective of the neighbourhood's culture with its name etched in a pebbly, modernized earth font. Behind the glass, a passerby might stop to stare at an Issey Miyake dress hanging in the window, crafty plush purses, and rainbow-like racks of silks and suede. The shelves are colour-coordinated in a swirl of blouses, dresses, trousers, and accessories in emerging hues, from nudes to pinks and bright colours depending on the season. The mod furniture by local artisans sits in the open-air interior and near arched change room entryways. It is a store designed with intention. Colourful tweeds, cotton, silks, and leathers from brands like Jil Sander and Jean Paul Gaultier have all been found in the shop. It’s an influencer’s haven for asymmetric hems, mixed leather-jean jackets, or an intricate butterfly print on silk. With multiple niches of style captured, the eclectic nature of Seconde helps the shop thrive in a neighbourhood made up of a melting pot of cultures.

Justine (left) in Jean Claude Poitras and Mexx; Kim in Private Party label’s reworked vintage dollies top and Joseph Ribkoff; Claudia wearing Bali; and Masha (right) in Seconde vintage piece.

Colour-coordinated racks at Seconde are one of the many ways consumers can immerse in an aesthetically pleasing shopping experience.

“It’s a two-way street. We influence the culture, and the culture influences us because we understand Montréal as an identity,” says Claudia Gerarduzzi, one of the four curators at the bespoke store who believes the best transactions are those where customers capture a snippet of each of the curator’s aesthetic. “Montréal has its own culture, but it’s an eclectic city, ebbing together through everyone’s creativity.”

On a busy Saturday at the store, young influencer types flick through whimsical skirts and tailored jackets. Mothers scan vintage home goods; a boyfriend sifts through a rack dedicated to menswear, and artistic salespeople steam garments and style guests in and out of the dressing rooms. There are bits and bobs, like jewelry and ceramics from local artisans and designers, and even a section of vintage clothing dedicated to inclusive sizing — a rack often missing in the secondhand market due to the historical lack of extended sizes manufactured prior to the 1980s.

“It’s a two-way street. We influence the culture, and the culture influences us because we understand Montréal as an identity.”