Fashion Boutiques

A boutique is often defined as a “small fashionable supermarket.” Another definition would be, "a small store that sells stylish clothing, jewelry, or other usually luxury goods". The word is French for "shop", which derives from the Greek word for "storehouse".

Most boutiques retail trendy and often exclusive items. Boutiques can specialize in clothing, footwear, jewelry, beauty products, etc. A fashion boutique typically sells clothes & possibly other products such as shoes, handbags, fragrances, fashion accessories, etc.

Fashion boutiques are in the retail segment of the apparel industry. They sell product direct to consumers. As a retailing concept, the typical boutique is associated with a distinct identity that reflects the taste of the owner of the boutique. Some boutiques may be owned by the fashion designer behind the garments in the store. This would be thought of as a “fashion designer boutique”. Trendy boutiques selling clothes often have small-scale production with rapid turnover. Store owners generally want to have unique styles that are not easily found in department stores or in the mass market. The small specialty stores try to distinguish themselves from the larger retailers. The unique & trendy product gives consumers a reason to shop in the local boutiques.

Some multi-outlet businesses (chains) can be referred to as boutiques if they target small, upscale market niches.

In the late 1990s, some retailers developed the idea of tailoring a shop towards a lifestyle theme, in what they called "concept stores”. After the internet became popular and a common shopping opportunity, more and more retailers have turned to the online boutique business model. The benefit of the online fashion boutique business is that the store owner does not have to pay rent for a physical store location. However, customers lose out a bit by missing the personal assistance that is typically offered in a brick & mortar fashion boutique.

Find fashion boutiques in our clothing retailer section.

Learn how to sell your collection to fashion boutiques.

You may also want to learn about fashion department stores, about specialty stores, about online clothing stores and about outlet stores.

Find the worlds best fashion boutique shopping destinations.

The Boutique Model

The boutique trades breadth for point of view. Where a department store carries something for everyone, a boutique carries one buyer's edited answer to the season, in limited quantities. That scarcity is part of the appeal: a boutique customer finds pieces her friends have not seen, fitted and styled with the owner's help. The model extends beyond clothing — hotel boutiques, fitness boutiques and gift boutiques all borrow the word to promise small, curated and a little exclusive.

Boutiques in the Online Era

Many boutiques now sell as much online and through social media as in the shop itself, using the physical store as showroom, studio and community space. The definition has stretched with them — an online-only shop with a tight, personal selection is routinely called a boutique — but the core of the term has not changed: small, stylish and chosen with intent.