Village Verve

(© Saskia Vanderstichele)

The name of the shop might ring a bell. That’s because there already are two Village Verves in the centre, one on rue Van Arteveldestraat and one on Kolenmarktstraat/rue du Marché au Charbon. A third one just opened on Baljuwstraat/rue du Bailli, with a range of new and popular labels in women’s clothing.

Owners Isabelle Netus and her husband opened their first store in 2009. After careers as computer programmers in the US, they came to Brussels and wanted to start with something new. With their fashion interest and online skills, their initial idea was to launch a web shop. To play it safe and get their name out there, they changed their plans and opened a real store on Van Artevelde. A while later, the second shop opened and so did the online store, which they run themselves too. While Isabelle snaps the pictures of the new collection, her husband takes care of the lay-out and post-production. When last summer, they noticed that a commercial space became available on Baljuw/Bailli, the couple was keen on opening their first store uptown with labels and brands that weren’t available in the area. Once inside, the many mirrors give away the shop was previously occupied by a hairdresser. They come in very handy to show off the many great labels: the buzzing and ever so colourful Kenzo, cutting-edge designs by Surface to Air, MM6 (Martin Margiela’s diffusion line), androgynous clothes by the Korean-born Kai-aakmann, grungy creations by Damir Doma, and the Swedish label Dagmar. From a simple blue T-shirt to sandals with a fluorescent strap, or from a pair of wedge sneakers to a snug sweater, there’s something out there for every woman. Luckily the big fitting rooms allow you to try on as much as you want. Besides clothes, you’ll find some accessories and quirky items too (clever notebooks, soap etc).

Village Verve ●●●
Baljuwstraat 49 rue du Bailli, Elsene/Ixelles, www.village-verve.com, di/ma/Tu > za/sa/Sa 11 > 19.00