Moly Kulte’s logo, a green recycling triangle, gives away its motivation immediately. The workshop-boutique opened in October, 2006, with a group of designers looking to promote the eco-friendly option of recycled clothing. Most of the pieces found in the cozy half-basement are designed in-house from pieces of old clothes (shoppers can peek into the two in-progress rooms to see what’s being made), but many of the accessories come from other local designers.

You’re likely to find plenty of shirts or dresses with endless bits of other patterns sewn here and there to create a new and completely unique design. The mostly-women’s collection of shirts, skirts, jackets, and dresses runs from extra small to large; and, if your object of desire doesn’t quite fit, the designers will happily take it in for you. Men, you can shop too, because Moly Kulte carries a line of men’s tee-shirts, jackets, and ties. Oh, and if you’ve got a child or a dog, a little digging might just source a sweater for them, too.

Moly Kulte does its best to fit every budget. Prices range from $25 for a tee-shirt to $200 for a dress. That being said, there’s a $12 trunk where new items are thrown in, straight from the racks, every week. Digging through the trunk or scanning the racks, you’ll find the ever-popular “eco fashion victim” shirts and others promoting their homegrown status with unique “ce t-shirt n’a pas été en chine” slogans. Anything not pieced together from recycled materials uses organic cotton made in Montreal.

New clothes show up almost daily, as the staff designers create an average of 20 new pieces per week. Every month for one night, all merchandise is hidden and the space is offered to one of the 20-odd designers for a vernissage.

And where do you get a name like “Moly Kulte,” you ask? The store’s founders were looking to create a Web site about a phantom girl with an easy first name and an uncommon last name. They liked the word “cult,” so with a few tweaks the name was born! The fake girl’s website never actually happened… but the store’s certainly did!
Lise Treutler