Actually cool Montréal souvenirs

It’s so nice to have things to remember a trip by, but is there anything cheesier than tourist-shop fare? Luckily there’s a crop of stores in Montréal that offer genuinely cool branded gear you’ll actually want to take home not just for you, but for anyone on your gift list. And no snow globes in sight.

From local designer clothing and accessories by Travis Taddeo, Denis Gagnon, Des Rosiers and Okynx to wacky costume jewellery and crazy cellphone covers, Le Rhinocéros is a good-time store in the Phi Centre in Old Montréal filled with unique local finds. Our favourites are the scarves they get printed with art by local creatives like Renata Morales and Joe Becker.

This boutique at the bottom of one of the most spectacular views of downtown Montréal you can have, the summit of Place Ville-Marie, sells made-in-Montréal goods pretty enough to decorate the house with. Among many other decorative objects, go there for the series of cushions by Monumental Love featuring Montréal landmarks such as the Farine Five Roses sign and the Orange Julep.

A veritable who’s who of Montréal creators, YUL Designs is like the Etsy of made-in-Montréal ware, ranging from jewellery to foodstuffs to design objects to clothes. It’s an online store mainly, but they have pop-ups and a pied-à-terre on St-Laurent near Bernard. Bring back a taste of the city with syrups by Les Charlatans, designed to mix into cocktails or to make into Italian-style soda for kids.

This mini-chain of design stores in Little Italy offers goods from all over the world, but there’s a particular focus on local products. Bélangermartin has two locations a block away from each other, one with more focus on homeware, the other more clothing. Both are worth checking out. We’re in love with the rope lamps by Annie Legault.

Museum of Jewish Montreal on the corner of St-Laurent and Duluth serving as an exposition space, bookstore and coffee shop with food handpicked from Montreal’s Jewish community. ✨

Une photo publiée par Ali (@inayali) le 14 Sept. 2016 à 8h19 PDT

The headquarters of the street-tour based Museum of Jewish Montréal, right at St-Laurent corner Duluth, are like a community centre: there’s a fantastic restaurant serving Montréal-Jewish classic, a small exhibition space and a shop with a beautifully curated selection of books about the city. How about the Joe Beef cookbook?

The new capsule collection for @romados_mtl is now available at 6524 St-Hubert. Open late tonight. #VeryRare #ArtgangGarments #StreetsOfMontreal

Une photo publiée par Artgang Art Contemporain (@agcmtl) le 21 Août 2016 à 14h58 PDT

Mostly an art gallery focused on street art from all over the world, Artgang is a massive space on St-Hubert in Rosemont that also sells a very cool collection of urban clothing, featuring brands from Montréal like New Regime, Boro and their own house brand of sweats, tees and MTL baseball caps.

Up next:Where to buy the best winter wear in Montréal