Jules & Eve: the newest gem in Kerrisdale
January 27th, 2009 | Published in Boutiques | 3 Comments
Words and Photos by Maria (Above: Owner Sara Au Yeong at Jules & Eve).
Jules & Eve has the lovely quality of a precious stone: small, but full of wonders. Tucked in amongst the shops on West 41st Avenue between Maple and East Boulevard, its doors open to a full stock of frocks, accessories, and makeup—and many of these distinguish themselves by the fact that they are exclusive to the store, at least in Vancouver. Lines like MINT by Jodi Arnold, Tracy Reese, Betsey Johnson, and Jay Godfrey can be found on the racks at Jules & Eve—many of which can also be found on the backs of celebrities and in shows like Gossip Girl and Sex and the City.
Gossip Girl certainly was an inspiration for founder Sara Au Yeong in the inception of Jules & Eve. The show has repeatedly been named the “new and younger” Sex and the City because of its fabulously styled lead girls and a knack for dictating what masses of young women dress like around the world. “When the whole Gossip Girl thing started everyone was like, ‘the dresses are so pretty! We wish we could find them!’ So I thought, ‘why don’t I just do that?,” says Au Yeong. She saw a niche to be filled and got to work. Before the Gossip Girl idea, Au Yeong had naturally planned on a cosmetics store, having worked with makeup extensively and having started her own makeup distribution company, ARIVIAL, but fashion has always been her main interest. “Fashion is still my first love,” states Au Yeong, “I’m a shopaholic myself and I think I could do with a lot more clothes than makeup!” These two loves are what Jules & Eve became: a destination store where you can find everything you need for a night out and a place that provides expertise in both style and makeup.
Stila is the focal point when it comes to cosmetics at Jules & Eve and Au Yeong, with her years of experience in the makeup industry, swears by it. “Stila is the brand when it comes to makeup [...] it’s doing really, really well,” she says, “What’s unique in here [Jules & Eve] is that we’re the only authorized store in Canada that offers a discount to makeup artists and people in the industry; they get a special rate just like at MAC.” Quick makeup tutorials can be requested on the spot, as the girls in the Jules & Eve team have professional makeup artistry training–two of them top graduates at the Blanche Macdonald makeup program and Au Yeong herself a graduate of the John Casablancas program. Being ambitious as she is, Au Yeong didn’t stop her schooling there; she went on to study a myriad of things from fashion merchandising to entrepreneurial leadership. It seems she had been pumping herself up to open her own store the whole time. “It’s always been my dream to have a store and [being in fashion] has always been something I’ve wanted ever since I was a kid,” says Au Yeong, “[...]Fashion is so fast paced and it never slows down; you just have to go faster and ahead of it. That’s what I love about it.”
The perfect spot for the store she’s always wanted would of course be Kerrisdale. Au Yeong has a soft spot for this area and would have waited to open her store for as long as possible until she could find a location there. “Kerrisdale is an area I’ve wanted secretly for… the last 5 years!” Au Yeong laughs. In the end, it took a lot less than she expected and she opened the doors of Jules & Eve almost half a year before she had originally planned. 
“I was actually thinking [of opening the store] in Spring at the earliest—as in March of 2009—or Fall of 2009!” remembers Au Yeong. Everything was set up and ready in the span of one month, with the store officially opening on November 1st, 2008. It has only been a couple of months but Jules & Eve is a definite hit in the Kerrisdale community and has its regular customers already. “We have a lot of the 16 or 17 year old [crowd] come in,” says Au Yeong, “A lot of the moms are coming in, too. They’re very trendy here [...] and they love to shop in the same store. I guess it’s that activity of being with their daughters and getting to know what’s in and what’s cool. It’s really great.”
The rest of Vancouver is also taking notice and with an online store launching next month there won’t be a soul that can’t have a Gossip Girl-esque look right at her fingertips. Local designers are also in this stylish mix with the likes of Christina Darling, Jason Matlo, Lily + Jae, and Sugarlime available at Jules & Eve. It is definitely the ideal spot if you want to find the dress for that garden party or that art opening or your cousin’s wedding. “When someone comes in here, they know they’ll find that dress, whether they can pick it up that day or not, they will always find something that is special,” says Au Yeong, “We want to be the destination for dresses. In a nutshell, if someone googles “dress store” Jules & Eve would be the first result.” With all the gorgeous things this gem is already full of, this isn’t a far-fetched notion at all.
January 28th, 2009
JULES & EVE
^ COOOOOL ^
^ SUPPORT JULES & EVE ^
February 3rd, 2009
Great article! I visited the boutique and wanted to buy everything!! Best clothes in Vancouver, everything is so hand picked and unique!
March 9th, 2009
Gorgeous stuff! I’ll have to check it out
Would love to get my jewellery into there!