By Denise Rideout
Ottawa clothes designers are breaking into the up-and-coming clubwear business.
Fünf funk boutik, a clothing store which opened at 243 Bank St. this month, features clothes produced and designed by locally-trained designer Tonia Weber. Weber, whose label is called Una, designs club wear, a style of funky clothing.
Weber, 27, says she’s excited about getting her name – and her clothes – out in the market.
“I’m shocked and amazed that I am here,” says Weber, who has been making clothes since junior high school.
Weber’s work, including T-shirts, hand-dyed tank tops, pants, wristbands and armbands, is one of several clothing lines that is sold at fünf. Her clothes are featured with larger labels like Stond from Brooklyn and The People Have Spoken from Toronto.
Having to compete against these labels hasn’t discouraged the local designer.
“You have to put it next to other clothing lines,” says Weber. “I think it makes my stuff look good.”
Luc Thivierge, owner of fünf, says the market in Ottawa is huge. With more after-hours bars opening in the city, Thivierge says there’s a need to clothe the people who go to these clubs.
“Ottawa is exploding right now,” says the 30-year old. “It’s a boom town.”
Fünf, the store’s name, is German for five. It represents the five things the store offers: clothes, footwear, gift items, fashion accessories and an in-house studio.
Fünf is set up so that it’s like two stores in one. The clothes are featured at the front, and Weber works at a studio in the back. Where customers can watch through a window.
“Customers get to see the design buzz,” Thivierge says. “They immediately know that we do part of our clothing in-house.”
For Weber, working in the store means she gets to see how sales are doing.
“I’m excited about people liking the clothes and wearing it,” Weber says.
Nicole Pratt, 22, tried on some Una shirts at the store. “I think the clothes are very trendy,” she says. “It is very modern.”
Weber says she isn’t taking her new business for granted, especially since there are few stores in Ottawa for clubwear designers to sell their clothes.
Weber came to Ottawa from Edmonton in 1992 to study at the Richard Robinson Academy of Fashion Design. Through an entrepreneurship program offered by the City, Weber opened a store in Place D’Orleans. She says sales broke even.
That’s where Thivierge discovered her.
She says Thivierge invited her to join him in the clothing business. She closed the store and moved her clothes to fünf.
“I’ve been very lucky. For me, it’s been pretty easy because I’ve been approached by people.”
Weber is just one of a few Ottawa designers getting exposure.
Yann Darevic designs the clothing label Puddles of Beats and is featured at Allegro, a clothing store on William Street. Darevic, 23, has been working in Ottawa for three years, designing street and rave gear.
Darevic says his clothes are selling well in Ottawa. He says it helps that his clothing line is connected to a company he runs which promotes music because people associate his clothes with music.
Anne-Marie Bergeron, owner of Allegro, says there are not enough Ottawa designers. Her store features Darevic’s label and another local line called Norml.
But Bergeron says the clothes don’t sell as well as other better known labels. She says his means Allegro does business a little differently with the local designers. The store orders small quantities of the clothes and only pays the designers when the clothes are sold.
“We’re supporting a local business and that is good. And the clothes are just as good as other stuff I see across the country.