Desigual was born in Barcelona in 1984, after a birthing process on the island of Ibiza, where company founder Thomas Meyer started deconstructing and upcycling old denim jeans to make a fabulous new jacket with a patchwork of faded denim and not so old denim in darker shades of blue.

Desigual’s headquarters is located on Barceloneta Beach, with floor-to-ceiling windows looking out on palm trees, sandy beaches and the Mediterranean blue sea, which combine to remind its dozens of designers every day that La Vida es Chula – Life is Cool. Desigual has a positive, non-conformist spirit. Their founder defines the tribe’s DNA as Radical Optimism.

This year’s season’s theme is: We Love To Be Different, celebrating 40 years of Desigual’s adventurous originality.

We just received our first shipment of the Desigual Spring-Summer 2025 collection, so stay tuned to our Instagram @angel_of_gastown, where we post new styles daily. The 2025 collection now is on sale 10% off.

This post start swith new Desigual styles designed by famed Paris fashion icon Christian Lacroix, then shows to new Desigual for women and then new Desigual for men.

The Fall 2024 collection is on sale 30% to 50% off, with Desigual from previous seasons up to 60% off. All Desigual for kids is 30% off.

SOLD OUT: The Desigual PENSEE shirt designed by Christian LacrioX. Fall-Winter 2024.

July 25, 2024 update: Angel just received our last shipment of Desigual Summer 2024 styles that we sold out of earlier. We have a few of these items in stock, on sale 20% off:

There’s lots more coming this season…

Olivia Rodrigo played in Vancouver last week. Is she Obsessed with your ex? Good video, especially the vacuuming at the end:

You may have noticed the Desigual “Birmingham” sweater above is listed as a “tutti-frutti” colour, an Italian term for “all fruit” in ice cream. But I always think of Little Richard‘s first hit, Tutti Futti, recorded in 1955 – it was recorded in 15 minutes, in three takes, and changed the history of rock and roll. To hear the backstory about how the lyrics, originally about sex, were tamed down to get radio airplay, click here. Little Richard was wild on stage, jumping on the piano, singing and dancing -a big inspiration for Prince’s stage act. Here is a rather sedate performance of Tutti Frutti for a 1956 film:

The Desigual “Santi” shirt posted near the bottom of the Desigual men’s styles has a seemingly handwritten lyric “Wild thing, you make my heart sing” from a Troggs song, Wild Thing. Jimi Hendrix played a wild version in 1967 at the Monteray Pop Festival, starting off with guitar feedback that the world had never seen or heard before. Jimi spent part of his early childhood in Vancouver; his father was from Vancouver and for a few years Jimi went to elementary school here and lived with his grandmother, a cook at Vie’s Chicken and Steak House, a 5 pm to 5 am late-night joint in Hogan’s Alley, then a predominantly black neighbourhood; it was frequented by Louis Armstrong, Lena Horne, Sammy Davis Jr, Cab Calloway, Count Basie, Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, Lou Rawls, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Diana Ross & the Supremes. The late-night diner was on the bottom floor of a small two story house at 209 Union Street. It was also a popular spot for white folk who had been out on the town, had a few drinks and were looking for a late-night eatery. Vie’s was a welcoming spot. I went to high school with a friend whose grandmother owned Vie’s and his mother worked there. Vie was born on Saltspring Island, from a pioneering B.C. family who were descendants of free blacks from California.

In 1858, free Blacks who had ended up in California from various parts of the United States became increasingly concerned about the discriminatory racist laws that were being enacted and feared for their safety. They began to explore possible safe havens to settle in and delegations were sent out from San Francisco to look for prospective places. One group came to then British Colony of Vancouver Island. They met with Governor James Douglas to find out how they would be received. The Governor, the son of a Scottish father and free West Indian mother, told them they would be welcome and fairly treated. The colony had abolished slavery. They could purchase and pre-empt land, their children could go to school. After seven years they could become a British citizen by taking an oath of allegiance, giving them the right to vote, sit as a juror, and be treated equally under British law. While the British colonies of the Pacific Northwest were overrun with migrants from all lands on the quest for gold, this black community sought freedom and political enfranchisement as much as fortune. So by the spring of 1859, 400 to 600 free Blacks had landed in Victoria. Jimi embodied their strength, spirit and he was an amzing trail-blazer to this day:

Don’t forget: You Only Get What You Give; this song was first to use the term “frenemies” (people who you think are your friends but they work against you). This song and what is below are the songs I was listening to while doing the tedious job of posting Desigual photos of new arrivals and style descriptions. I mention if the garment was made in Morocco because that is my next holiday, or maybe Oaxhaca :

Here’s a cool version by a Gastown neighbour, deejay Felix Cartel:

Westside DJs’ remix:

Daft Punk mashup with Daft’s One More Time and You Get What You Give at 4:01:

After this, I feel Deee-Lite-full (notice she’s wearing Fluevog Shoes, which started in 1970 at my store at 2 Powell St):

This song gives me immense delight, seeing Joni Mitchell standing with her musician friends, singing to Elton John, his hubby & lyricist Bernie Taupin.

Okay, I’m going way back in rock and roll history into the DooWop era, with a song called Little Darlin’ by Maurice Williams & The Zodiacs from 1960, followed by his million-seller hit from 1967, Stay, a holdover from the Doo Wop song era:

Maurice died last month. Just recently, I found this “live” version and didn’t realize the biggest guy did the falsetto.

This is Jackson Browne‘s version, with the late great pedal steel guitarist (along with 82 other instruments he could play) David Lindley singing a falsetto chorus:

Jackson Browne, 2023, on a Playing For Change video, Doctor My Eyes:

Wow, did I get off track. I wanted to highlight this guy, David Lindley, and his band El Rayo-X (he stole the name from a Mexican wrestler), perhaps the weirdest/most wonderful band to come out of Topanga Canyon. There a lyric in this song that always gets my imagination going: “…his old lady shoots up freeway signs.” Is that good behaviour, or just good songwriting? We will never know because the songwriter, Bob “Frizz” Fuller, and Lindley are both no longer in this world:

I was having a drink, down at the bar…

Okay, I’ve gone far enough down this path to hear Mercury Blues, a remake of a 1948 song written by rural blues musician K. C. Douglas:

Oh, I went to see Bruce Springsteen the other night, and I was expecting the acoustic version: