Gabi Conac spent the beginning of her life in Moldova, where she was kept from fully exploring her interest in fashion. She continued to face hurdles after immigrating to Canada where her job search was unrewarding. But through her own business she now helps others build fashionable and functional wardrobes.
Raised during the Soviet control of Moldova, Conac had limited access to clothing and accessories. This made exploring fashion styles difficult, but that didn’t stop young Conac from trying her best. She had her mother tailor-make outfits and she would find items that had been smuggled into the country.
“You have to know someone, who knows someone, to get a pair of shoes, OK?” she said.
Putting effort into your appearance is a significant aspect of Conac’s Eastern European culture. Her parents insisted Conac always looked put together, in nice clothing and styled hair, before leaving the house — for any reason.
Conac carried this value with her when she immigrated to Canada with her husband, Alex Conac, but was met with disappointment. In the early 2010s, Conac was shocked at how far behind she felt Canada was in social media trends and marketing, where most of her professional expertise was. Although Conac felt she had a lot to offer in the Canadian workforce, she was met with constant rejection.
“That’s the thing that I never appreciated about Canada is the fact that we take all of these immigrants, but we don’t accept any of their experience. It’s xenophobic, if you ask me, not accepting anything that’s not Canadian,” Conac said.
Frustrated, Conac decided if she wanted to work in fashion, she would have to start in retail and work her way up from there. She lasted only two weeks at Zara before she was hired to work on commission at Holt Renfrew, a high-end department store known for carrying luxury brands, where she stayed until she shifted back into social media marketing.
“You don’t drop out of your job and start seeking your dreams. You work your nine-to-five and then you hustle.”
Gabi Conac
Although her husband, Alex, knew how goal-driven Conac could be, he still had his doubts if Canada would ever embrace her fashion expertise. Alex believes his wife has “exquisite taste,” and while it was hard to see Conac deal with so much rejection, he thinks this only made her more determined to succeed.
“She just continued, kept on going, and that’s what made her successful,” he said.
While Conac worked to support herself, she was also starting her own shopping and styling business. Utilizing her experience in social media, she began marketing her own ability to style and shop. Soon, Wardrobe Detectives become a way for Conac to connect with her love for fashion.
“You don’t drop out of your job and start seeking your dreams. You work your nine-to-five and then you hustle,” she said.
As an image consultant, Conac utilizes social media marketing to help her clients look and feel their best through her personal shopping and styling business, Wardrobe Detectives. Conac believes fashion can encourage people to be more successful in their business pursuits, and she enjoys helping people build their confidence.
Soon the success of her business was enough for her to rely on, and personal shopping and styling became her full-time career a couple years ago. Conac felt a general feeling of “sartorial laziness” in the Canadian population, and that her European values set her apart from other stylists.
When entering a person’s closet for the first time, Conac says it’s challenging to find the balance between being straightforward, while also being respectful. When people undergo major change in their lives, such as retirement, Conac finds that many people find it difficult to let go of clothing they no longer need. People could be hoarding clothing for a variety of reasons, and that’s when Conac really becomes a detective in someone’s wardrobe.
“You then realize how that brand name is actually leading you to what you’re doing,” she said. “Clues to a problem that you need to solve after, right? And help that case find closure.”
Conac believes her job is more than physically building a new wardrobe, and that there is a deeper psychological aspect. Her job is also to help her clients build the confidence to wear the new wardrobe.
“You know, to a degree, just like when you’re going to a trainer or to a psychologist, you have to connect with those people,” Conac said.
Julie Macdonald, a past client of Wardrobe Detectives, was friends with Conac for five years before seeking her expertise. Macdonald was disappointed she didn’t engage in Conac’s services sooner because of how pleased she was with her new closet. As Macdonald was ascending in her career, and she wanted to look and feel the part. Conac helped by building her confidence and reflecting her unique vibe in clothing that complimented her body type.
“Being able to feel like I belonged in those places, at those tables, based on what I was wearing and how I felt in it, made a huge difference to me and how I was showing up in my career,” Macdonald said.
Conac would love to reach more clients by expanding Wardrobe Detectives to other cities, but she finds growing a business so strongly connected to her personality to be a challenge.
Having an eye for proportion, texture, and colour has inspired Conac to explore her interest in interior designing and cooking.
“It’s beauty. Seeking balance, visual balance, and beauty in everything,” Conac said. “I think that’s the greatest virtue of life.”
While being a full-time mother, a wife and the owner of Wardrobe Detectives, Conac continues to connect with clients through her social media by posting aesthetically pleasing lifestyle content.