Trina Bellavance

By Nick Davis
BACK BAY - On a recent afternoon, Trina Bellavance was making adjustments to the window displays in front of Louis Boston. A homeless woman, covered in black, and wearing a red beret, passed by she complimented Bellavance on always having the best window displays in Boston. “Some times appreciation for the daily hard work I put into my job comes from the most unique places,” she said.

Bellavance, the "visual merchandiser" at Louis Boston, describes her personal fashion style as “slightly bohemian military or anything biker.” She sports a boyish cropped hairstyle. She has been in Boston’s visual merchandising field for about 10 years, the past two as head of the women’s floor at the high-end fashion boutique.

A native of Nashua, N. H., Bellavance has been into art ever since she was a child. “I remember as a little girl she liked to ride horses,“ said Aimee Bellavance, her sister. “She would always love to draw horses, too.”

Bellavance majored in studio arts at the University of Vermont, and attended graduate school at the Museum of Fine Arts School and Tufts University, where she received a Master’s degree with a concentration in painting. Soon after, Bellavance said she was hired in the Visual Design department at Anthropologie on Boylston Street in the Back Bay.

Although she enjoyed her time at Anthropologie, Bellavance often felt restricted and wanted to work at a place where she would be granted the artistic freedom to explore her own ideas. After seven years at Anthropologie, Bellavance saw an opportunity at Louis Boston.

Her boss at Louis Boston, creative director Matthew Keller, said he hired Trina because she had a portfolio that showed talent. “She also has a personality that everyone gets along with,” Keller said.


Some of Bellavance’s duties include assisting in the master visual concept for Louis Boston every season, dressing mannequins, and merchandising clothes. Bellavance said one of the perks about working at Louis Boston is working with clothes from today’s most famous fashion designers.

“Trina is very creative, resourceful and knows how to create something extraordinary out of the ordinary,” Louis Boston intern, Kristel Cue, said. Cue said she admires how Bellavance can turn everyday objects--from magazine cutouts to cardboard shreds--into picturesque window displays. “It definitely takes imagination and an artistic eye to see how empty spaces can be transformed into visual masterpieces,” Cue said.


During her stint at Louis Boston, Bellavance has been able to observe some changes in the Back Bay, including the rent increase which has caused the area to lose some of its unique appeal.

“It’s becoming less popular because with rent so high, smaller shops are looking to relocate,” Bellavance said. “It used to be a lot of exclusive high-end boutique stores here, but now larger fashion corporations are starting to move in because they can afford the higher rent.”

In the past two years commercial retail company's like H&M, Filene's Basement, and Victoria Secret have opened stores on Newbury St. While some may think these stores deter from Newbury Street's once all exclusive boutique shop, others think these stores offer more realistic and affordable clothing.

"As much as I like the boutiques on Newbury Street I can't afford to pay for an expensive garment every time I go shopping," said Northeastern University junior Bailey McAndrews. "These stores offer a cheaper, sometimes more stylish version that you see in the boutiques, which is very appealing to students seeing as they have many other things to pay for."

Bellavance said she hopes Newbury Street will consist of a harmonious mixture between the two types of stores in the future.