Local Fashion

Jaunts brings a note of style to Old Town.

Meet Pascale Storms, owner of Jaunts, a lifestyle boutique here in Old Town Torrance. Pascale was born and raised in Antwerp, Belgium, where she developed her passion for haute couture. After building a career in the fashion industry, her work took her to New York City. From there she moved to California and was drawn to Old Town Torrance for its small-town charm.

At Jaunts, Pascale offers a unique selection of chic clothing, shoes and accessories from around the world for “the fashionmonger, traveler and explorer.” We sat down with Pascale to learn more about her story and her Old Town Torrance experience.

Our Old Town Torrance (OOTT): First of all, how have you been doing throughout this pandemic? 

Pascale: Like all of us, we are impacted by it, but everybody has to be creative at this point, including myself. So, I’ve been doing Zoom calls and private styling sessions and fashion shows on Zoom when people couldn’t go anywhere, so that helped me a little bit. I’ve also focused a little more on my website, because before my store was purely for in-store buying and shopping, but now my website is more developed, as well.

OOTT: So, you’ve been doing online fashion shows?

Pascale: Yes, I did Zoom fashion shows. I have a good customer base and I invite them all, and then I do it in-store by myself. I show them the new collections, or I do styling sessions with accessories and shoes and all that.

OOTT: Very fun. How often do you change your collections?

Pascale: Well, I have almost daily arrivals from all over the world, so I always have new things coming in. And I change my display backgrounds and the interior store design and visuals. I have so much fun doing it all, so I change my store quite frequently.

OOTT: That must keep you busy!

Pascale: Oh yes, but it’s a lot of fun.

OOTT: What got you into the fashion industry to begin with?

Pascale: Well, I started at a young age. My brother is five years older than me, and we lived in Antwerp, and he always took me to those trendy boutiques and everything, and I just fell in love with it. I was maybe 10 or 11 or something, and I was so passionate about it, I decided then that I wanted to be a part of it. And here I am!

OOTT: What brought you to the United States?

Pascale: My previous company in Europe, I had worked for them almost 10 years, and they asked me to move to New York. And I’ve always loved traveling, so for me it was an opportunity. It was great. I was responsible for the U.S. market and so I was traveling quite a bit.

OOTT: That must have been really exciting.

Pascale: Absolutely! I’d never been to New York before, and so I was like a little girl in a big town.

OOTT: Yeah, it can be overwhelming.

Pascale: You know, when I lived there it was like my home, so it didn’t feel that way. I would walk all the streets and my office was just a few blocks away. It was just wonderful. I loved it.

OOTT: And how long did you work in New York?

Pascale: Two years, total.

OOTT: Then you moved to California?

Pascale: Yes. I started working at a premium denim company as a visual senior, then I learned more skills and started doing store design, then I became the store design manager. It was so much fun. It was very creative, very challenging, and it was all new to me. And I love that, I love to learn. It keeps me growing. Keeps me on my toes, right?

OOTT: Yeah! That’s great. So, what brought you to Old Town Torrance?

 Pascale: I knew about Old Town Torrance because a friend of mine has a business here, and I always loved it. I loved the small-town vibe. It’s so quaint and you can walk everywhere. And now it’s even better than it was four years ago. There’s more restaurants, and there’s so much more going on.

 OOTT: What is your favorite thing about Old Town Torrance?

Pascale: Oh, the people. You know, I design the store myself, and I was working here one night and somebody knocked on my door. It was one of my neighbors and she said, “you work so hard every day,” and she brought me a cup of coffee. I knew then that I’d made the right decision to be here. The people are so nice, they were so welcoming. I can’t say it enough. It’s a community. Everybody supports everybody, everybody has their back. I love it.

OOTT: Are there any changes or improvements you’d like to see here in Old Town Torrance?

Pascale: I think we need some frozen yogurt places! I love food and all of that kind of thing! But you know, there’s always room for improvement with everything, even with my own business. A lot of people still don’t know we exist here, so we need to be more out there. Maybe a big sign on Torrance Boulevard that says, “Welcome to Old Town Torrance,” or something like that. We have the street fair every month, and I would also love to see a farmers market. Years ago, before I was here, the farmers market was here, as well, but it moved to Wilson Park. I still have a lot of people say to me, “We didn’t even know you were here, it’s so charming.” So, there’s a lot of things we can do here to get us more on the map

OOTT: Do you have any other plans for your shop moving forward?

 Pascale: Well, of course I have everything for women, but a lot of people also ask me about menswear, so in June I’m going to do a little pop-up store outside for men. And in the future, I also want to have a little section for pets, because I love it. I’m very pet-friendly here. Every dog is welcome.

 OOTT: Yeah, it’s surprising how much pet fashion is available out there!

Pascale: Right! And I have two pets myself, they’re both rescues. My youngest one is just nine weeks now. I just love animals in general.

OOTT: So do I. Well, I’m excited about your new men’s pop-up store. I’ll have to swing by and check it out.

Pascale: Yes! It’s going to be very exciting. You know, a portion of my store is outdoors, which helped me through the pandemic, and I still have it. And I did parties every month before, and I will do that again from April on. And I invite people who own small businesses locally, so jewelry designers, spa owners, whoever wants to be part of it, with some little snacks and a couple drinks. So, it’s going to be a lot of fun.

Jaunts is open Tuesday through Saturday and is located at 1223 El Prado Avenue. Pascale also provides personal shopping and styling services for customers who prefer private shopping or who can’t make it to the boutique during business hours.