FFWD Weekly
Copyright © 2000. All Rights Reserved
Fashion
by FFWD StaffCampbell McDougall has always had a talent for forecasting the future of fashion in Calgary, and now he’s taking a big step forward with a new project in a different province. The owner of Fritz Lang and Oxygen clothing stores is putting a long-term plan into action with the opening of Bruce in Vancouver, an upscale department store for people with exclusive taste.
Bruce, named after his girlfriend, will be dominated by fashion, but augmented with sections for housewares, furniture, music and magazines, as well as a café. Unlike traditional department stores that target the general population, Bruce will be directed at people with more international – and expensive – tastes. However, McDougall also wants to break down the stereotypes that often accompany high-end shops.
"The mood of it is very fun and energetic and anything but pretentious," he explains. "There’s something very intoxicating about it."
He frequently travels as part of his work, and says the small department store concept has become a bit of a phenomenon in major cities such as London, New York, Milan and Melbourne. Bruce was inspired by a store in Paris called Colette, but will have McDougall’s personal touch. "It’s a concept that is spreading around the world, and yet no one is copying anyone else because everyone has their own vision."
ALL-STAR TEAM
His vision includes other Calgary retailers who will bring their contacts, resources and expertise to different sections. McDougall will take care of men’s and women’s clothing, shoes and accessories, music and magazines, while Walker McKinley and Mark Burkart – who brought their design talents to Bruce and are members of the group that designed local hot spots like Pongo, Concorde and Mercury – will work with him on housewares and furniture, and Garry Hapton of Brass Monocle will be in charge of eyewear.
"The people involved in Bruce are, in my mind, the Calgary all-star team," he says. "When you get all those people on side... it’s a pretty amazing thing."
The store itself is 7,000 square feet, featuring an open design with retail on the ground level, and a café and possibly a flower shop on the second floor. Located just off Burrard and Robson on Alberni Street, it’s in an area that already attracts crowds of residents and tourists due to nearby hotels and retail destinations like Virgin Records, Chanel and a planned Gucci store.
PASSION FOR FASHION
The thirtysomething McDougall brings more than 10 years of retail and small business experience to the project, which allows him to branch out and dabble in all of the things that interest him – architecture, graphic design, art, photography, and, most importantly, fashion.
"I think the interest in fashion developed for me in my mid-teens... and it just kind of branched out from there," says McDougall, who adds that he always "pushed the envelope" a little bit in terms of his own style.
Today he continues to stand out in a crowd. The day we meet for coffee he’s wearing a dark, striped suit that contrasts the more conservative attire generally seen on downtown streets, and the look is finished off with a pair of blue-grey sunglasses that match his shirt.
He knew a long time ago that he wanted a career in fashion, and had a game plan worked out by the time he was 21. "This is where I wanted to end up," he says. "It was all very calculated and methodical."
McDougall took two years in fashion merchandising, then got a job working at a small independent shop, Ferrone Imports, followed by a two-year stint at Henry Singer, which brought him from Edmonton to Calgary. During that time, McDougall learned the ins and outs of the retail business – attending trade fairs, learning about importing, touring stores in major cities, and discovering what to do and what not to do.
"It’s a very, very tough business to make money in," he says, adding that it’s much easier in Europe than Canada.
ON HIS OWN
In August 1991, McDougall opened his own store. Influenced by what he had seen in Europe and New York, he invested heavily in the location, the design, the decor and the fashions.
"I wanted an international store, not a mom and pop shop...," he says. "I think what we did was extremely ambitious and a little bit naïve."
Oxygen, a men’s store, opened in a premier space in Bankers Hall – just down the hall from Henry Singer – and the store design won three awards. Despite his experience, McDougall says he made a lot of mistakes and, due to the price attached to his vision, he was under a lot of pressure to make money right away.
"The first year was tough," he admits. "And then it kind of clicked into gear, almost to the day, on the first anniversary. Things started to gel."
Oxygen was a new concept for Calgary, and McDougall says a lot of people were skeptical at first. However, once it caught on, suppliers told him it was influencing the merchandise being sold at other stores.
"I think the impact Oxygen had, in the first two years, is that it really opened the eyes of other retailers downtown. It kind of pushed the boundaries."
ONE STEP BEYOND
As the clientele grew, McDougall found he was serving two different types of clientele – younger clients who wanted more junior styles in terms of look and price point, and older clients buying more expensive and sophisticated product. The 1300-square-foot store was starting to feel crowded, so when space became available on 11th Avenue S.W., he jumped at the chance to open a new store for his more mature customers.
Fritz Lang opened in 1996 and everything went according to plan – the more mature clients came to the store, and it attracted new customers as well. Fritz Lang relies on a small group of people with distinctive taste who are excited to try young and emerging designers, and do not need to have a big-name label on their clothes.
"The core clients that drive our shop, there’s a very significant trust level," he adds. "They realize that I’m on their side."
Some of those loyal clients are also throwing their support behind Bruce, only this time as shareholders. They are taking their trust beyond fashion advice and investing in the project.
THE BIRTH OF BRUCE
Spring 2000 is McDougall’s most ambitious season ever, in both the designs his stores are carrying and the opening of Bruce. He chose Vancouver because it is an international city with a large resident and tourist population, and he believes the timing is perfect – the city’s economic slump appears to be turning around, but the real estate market was still accessible when he secured the space.
He hasn’t ruled out a similar venture in Calgary in the future – Fritz Lang is already providing more internationally design-oriented fashions, and has added music and magazines to its repertoire – but says it would have to be on a smaller scale because the city doesn’t have the number of tourists requried to make it feasible.
"You need a very significant percentage of that business," he explains.
However, that’s not to say that Calgary isn’t hip enough. In fact, as an international city of three million, he says Vancouver sometimes disappoints.
"Calgary really has so much for a city of 750,000 people, in terms of young, hip places," he adds, mentioning Concorde, Pongo and Bamboo, as well as Fritz Lang and Oxygen. "I would take those establishments and pit them against the best of Vancouver and Toronto.
"It’s kind of ironic, but I see Vancouver being where Calgary was four or five years ago."
That makes it the perfect place for McDougall, who will move to Vancouver to oversee Bruce, while keeping in close contact with his Calgary stores. He predicts that Vancouver is about to experience a burgeoning of hip restaurants and shops, and, just like in fashion, McDougall wants to stay one step ahead of the pack.
"I’m not looking at the way things have been done or are done, but how things are going to be done. This is very 21st century."
What are the colours for this season?
Colours are bright and intense – orange, yellow, turquoise.
What is the dominant trend this season in terms of style?
An urban, technical sportswear look – velcro, zippers, laser cut seams, rubber soles, etc.
What is the most important piece of clothing in your closet?
A very fitted, black Costume National coat with surgeon’s cuffs and a nehru collar.
What are the most essential accessories for everyday?
A great watch, bag and pair of sunglasses.
What is the best thing and worst thing to come out of the fashion industry in the past decade?
Best: stretch fabric. Worst: shoulder pads.
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