Honey Love Couture

Nicole Sjostedt

In 1993 Lisa Osei, refreshed and home from her travels in Europe, opened doors to her romantic girly boutique, Room 430, just outside of Gastown in Vancouver.

After years of experience abroad in fashion, she was more than ready to take on the challenges of a new project. “I found that being away really opened my mind, and I was so inspired by everything around me all the time.”

Her time in London gave her the opportunity to work in design and really hone in on her skills as a designer. “I worked in a lot of areas of the business from buying to marketing and pattern cutting, I wanted experience.”

Her interest in fashion had come at a very young age when she would watch her mother make her and her siblings clothes. “We grew up in small towns throughout BC and didn’t have a lot of money, so my mother made our clothes. I remember I would sit and watch her for hours; I loved it.”

For the past fifteen years Lisa has balanced managing her Vancouver shop and designing her own label Honey Love Couture and feels this is her year to take her brand to the next level. Within this phase comes change for Room 430 boutique while it undergoes a slight facelift this spring.  It will phase out all other brands in the shop to solely focus on Honey Love Couture. “It’s an important step for me as I felt that my time was being torn between designing and buying for the store. I want this to be a shop that represents all I have to offer, and I feel my brand is ready to do that,” Lisa says confidently.

She has a very loyal customer base as well as a handful of women for whom she custom makes signature pieces like her bustles and corsets. “At one point I leaned toward making the boutique into a studio for custom designs only, but in the end felt that I didn’t want to limit my customer,” Lisa confesses.

With it’s charming space and romantic feel, this shop will no doubt be a beautiful stage for her girly line of clothing and accessories. Her prices range from $69 to $350 and include clothing, shoes, handbags and jewellery. Room 430  Boutique will unveil it’s new name “Honey Love Couture” later this month, so be on the look out, ladies, because 430 Homer St. just had a fabulous new makeover!