Free People may have its roots on the East Coast, but its laid-back, bohemian looks—flowing, feminine layers with touches of embroidery, lace, and other embellishments—seem custom-made for the West Coast. In fact, its stores from California up to Seattle are some of its most popular.

That’s why it’s with some anticipation that the brand, long carried in stores here, is finally opening its first stand-alone shops in the Vancouver area. The first is set to open at Park Royal Shopping Centre this week, with a second, even bigger space opening on South Granville in October.

At more than 2,000 square feet each, they’re bigger than Free People shops in Toronto and Calgary, meaning both will carry full lines of the clothes, as well as accessories, the new Intimates line, and, in the case of the 2624 Granville Street location, even shoes.

“These are the two largest Canadian stores, which is totally exciting,” says Beth Wehagen, Free People’s retail director, speaking to the Straight from New York before the West Van opening. She stresses that the boutiques, known for their eclectic touches, won’t have a cookie-cutter look. Park Royal’s will feature reclaimed wood and blackened steel, while the Granville spot will feature skylights and hand-carved elements.

The same goes for the styling and merchandising of the looks. “We send ideas in terms of corporate direction, but each store applies those ideas differently too.”

No surprise, Free People had its genesis in the flared-leg hippie heyday of the 1970s, with its first shop opening in Philadelphia, where the brand still has its headquarters. What you may not realize is that, soon after, the store was renamed Urban Outfitters, which fast exploded into hipster central for the teen and early-20s market, focusing on neon T-shirts, oversized knits, and funky lifestyle items.

Later, the parent company launched Free People as the boho wholesale line we know and love today, selling its crochet- and appliqué-happy wares in department stores and boutiques. At the same time, it started another little retail chain you might have heard of: Anthropologie (which also has an outpost in Van City, on Granville Street). Today, Free People has almost 100 of its own retail stores across North America—including, now, in B.C.

“One of the ways we think of it [Free People] is we are nicely sandwiched between the Urban [Outfitters] customer average age and the Anthropologie average age—in their mid 20s or mid 30s, in that stage of life just getting out of college or just meeting the person they might spend the rest of their life with,” Wehagen says. “But we have people that love the brand that are younger, some that are older.”

And it’s true: a shaggy vest over patchwork leggings or a little leather jacket over a plaid maxi skirt can, with the right styling, look as good on an 18-year-old arts student as it does on a 45-year-old cougar mom.

This fall, the same goes for new looks you’ll find at the retailer, including velvet duster coats, military wool jackets, and vegan-leather motorcycle styles; luxurious oversized pullovers in ladder stitches or knobby tweeds; distressed jeans, boyfriend shirts, and embellished tunics.

“We’re definitely loving menswear, and dark florals. We love jackets again this year. You’ll see some velvet,” Wehagen says. “And we’re loving tall socks with dresses and skirts—loving tall boots.”

Look for those to-the-knee-and-over boots when the Granville location opens later this fall, some with granny lacing, others with antique distressing, all perfect foils to the lace and embroidered delicacy of the skirts and tops you’ll pair them with. As for the Intimates (which run in the $20 to $100 range), they’re different from almost everything else out there, with a vintage-y, refreshingly non-hoochie feel: think eyelash-lace-trimmed silk slips with delicate floral patterns or bralettes in contemporary triangle cuts in old-fashioned cabbage-rose prints.

As with the rest of the Free People line, it’s all in the details.