Drawing inspiration from Liverpool’s vibrant street fashion scene, online vintage store Hoy Boutique provides a unique experience for an eager hunter of vintage gems.
Founded in 2010 by Sophie Christian and Samantha Toro Paz, Hoy boutique stems from the desire to develop their original street wear site, Hoy fashion into an accessible worldwide resource.
By drawing inspiration from the street style experience, Hoy boutique knows exactly what is wanted; the store’s concept has evolved from real people and their fashion choices.
The clothes on Hoy are modelled by girls who have adopted the pieces and paired them with their own elements. This, combined with the relaxed photography style which sees the models in a variety of settings helps set Hoy apart from the run of the mill vintage stores.
Vintage fashion has been a growth business in recent years and the current revival of 90’s fashion and culture has stoked the vintage fire in Hoy’s favour.
Hoy has channelled this influence through their garments, founder, Sophie Christian said: “We are really enjoying the 90’s revival at the moment because it is an era that is fun and also personally nostalgic.”
Although vintage fashion fundamentally follows style and era, there is often real difficulty in selecting pieces that are fashionable and relevant to the average girl on the street.
Sophie said: “We like to look out for up and coming trends on the high street by staying one step ahead of the game. This includes following fashion blogs, keeping an eye on seasonal catwalk trends and just having an instinct for fashion and what will take off.
“We prefer to hand pick clothes from a variety of places such as wholesale warehouses, flea markets, car boots, charity shops and ebay.
“We don’t like to strictly follow trends. Fashion tends to be very fickle today, especially on the high street, so we like to pick out classic timeless pieces too.”
For many, the joy of vintage shopping lies in the ability to rummage and find pieces which wouldn’t automatically look or feel ‘right.’
Hoy boutique feels this experience is not lost in their online store experience.
The freedom to operate online is hugely beneficial says Sophie: “We wanted to keep costs down and felt having a broader worldwide market that you have online and also having no restrictions of locality, provided a greater sense of freedom and offered a smaller risk when starting a new business.
“There are so many vintage shops which come and go and by allowing our Hoy girls to create their own look, customers have a real template rather than the problems which are encountered when you purchase an unusual garment from a messy pile.”
With their roots firmly in street fashion, Hoy boutique knows a thing or two about the rapid change of fashion trends, the resurgence of grunge proves particularly frustrating.
Sophie says: “If it is too put together/perfected it is irritating because it defies the point of what grunge is about.
“Meticulous hair, a shabby chic bag and brand new creepers is not authentic in our opinion. Fashion is supposed to be an expression of individuality, if it is followed too closely with peers it starts to look forced.
“A band t-shirt that has been worn to death with ripped hems and cigarette holes in it is grunge-it tells a story. Holes and rips deliberately added to a new t-shirt is pretty annoying.”
Head straight to www.hoyboutique.co.uk/ for an array of vintage delights.