As Sydney-based travelling boutique DÉSORDRE takes over Nine Lives Gallery’s old Valley Mall space for the next month, TESS CURRAN chats to the lovely LUCINDA CONNERY about life as one of Australia’s most fashionable gypsies.

TESS CURRAN: Tell us about ‘Désordre’ – where does that name come from?

LUCINDA CONNERY: It’s French – des-ord - which is like mess or disorder in English. Which is kind of fitting. For us mess is just a by-product of creativity and all the moving about and mishing-and-mashing we do.

TC: Certainly – all part of life running a travelling boutique I’m sure. How did this venture begin?

LC: Well, we [Lucinda and her business partner Shannon Thomas] wanted to open a store somewhere but we didn’t know where in Sydney we wanted to do it. We also wanted to take [our stuff] to other cities and other countries so we sort of decided we’d do small pop-ups in lots of different places ... We set up for anywhere between a month and a couple of months in each spot. We had our opening location in Darlinghurst in Sydney – which is where we actually want to settle when we get back – then we were in Bondi and Paddington for high summer and we’ll be heading down to Melbourne after we finish up here too ... Basically we just got sick of working for other people and wanted to be our own bosses!  

TC: Why did you decide to land in Brisbane? What are your impressions so far?

LC: It’s very different! It’s cool though. It’s a little bit more ‘villagey’ here which is nice – Sydney is so spread out and cliquey ... And I know everyone says it, but it’s more laid back. We’re both girls from the beaches in Sydney, so it kind of has that vibe here too.

And we wanted to come up here because everyone says it has this kind of cool underground ‘scene’ with lots and lots of stuff going on – something that maybe wasn’t here even five years ago but it’s definitely here now.

TC: Have you witnessed this ‘edge’ yourself yet or are you still waiting? 

LC: No, I have, I have! The first couple of days I was like, ‘Ohh, everyone’s calling me mate,’ but then we went out and we had our opening and we’ve been to some cool little galleries and restaurants and stuff ... The Valley’s cool – though the train station’s pretty scary.

TC: So do you think we’re a fashionable bunch or have a long way to go?

LC: I think there’s the same dichotomy up here as in Sydney. Like the people who are in to fashion are really into it – their sense of style is really strong.  But then there’s the vast majority who just ... ahh ... you know, wear bright-coloured Supre tops and the like. But we’ve got them in Sydney too!  

TC: What would be your tips for these people whom we might politely call the fashion ‘victims’?

LC: [Laughs]. I’d say white skirts are generally a no-no. But basically maybe step away from the Cosmo and the GHD and take a bit of a look around! 

TC: Speaking of inspiration, what’s hiding in Désordre at the moment?

LC: We pick labels that we really really love, but we don’t buy the whole range – only a selection – maybe five or so – of pieces that we think are really great.  And we’ve been doing some co-designing with some of our labels too – like Mrs Press, which is a Sydney label from Vogue Features’ Editor Claire Press. She’s awesome. We try to buy labels that aren’t stocked everywhere and try to do as much exclusive stuff as we can... Our vintage too, it’s not the kind of stuff you’d find at Vinnie’s. We try to stick mainly to designer vintage. We went on some buying trips to Europe and New York last year and hit all the estate auctions and stuff and picked up some really cute little pieces! 

TC: Wow. Is this the best job ever?

LC: Well... Yeah.

The DÉSORDRE pop-up store (with complimentary tea, coffee and styling) will be filling up the former Nine Lives Gallery space (above Mellino’s – 330 Brunswick Street Mall, The Valley) until Apr 27. New collections come in every week and menswear will also be hitting the racks soon. Open 10am-6pm Mon-Sat and 11am-4pm Sundays. Come in and have a chat, a browse and a dress-up, and you might even be snapped for the girls’ blog too. www.desordrestore.blogspot.com/www.desordrestore.com

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