Style Profile: Cristina Linden

He shoots, she scores: Her own Vancouver boutique is just the latest place this chic hockey wife gets to shop.

Finally, Canada’s fashion cognoscenti have a reason to follow hockey. Should Canucks assistant captain Trevor Linden ever get traded back to the States, we could lose one of our own MVPs: his wife, Cristina Linden.

With the recent opening of her Vancouver store, Basquiat (1042 Hamilton St., 604-688-0828), the B.C.-born beauty has everyone from hockey wives to trophy husbands clamouring for her Milan-meets-Melrose casual glam. “I’m not overly trendy,” says Linden, who gravitates to classics with edge. “I like really good pieces, things I can hold on to.” She has no plans to get rid of her collection of Missoni sweaters, the cream canvas and natural leather Gucci shoulder bag with gold studs that she picked up a couple of seasons ago, or her much-loved red leather Valentino stilettos with leather rosettes and green ankle-wrapping laces.

It may be a cliché, but Linden’s the first to admit to a healthy footwear fetish—one, she says, that stems from her love of exquisite design. After falling head over heels for a pair of blush-coloured open-toed satin Christian Dior pumps with gold trim, Linden had an outfit made to go with them. The ensemble premiered at Goldie Hawn’s 2005 Love-In fundraiser.

A fixture on the social scene, Linden hits Barneys New York and L.A.’s Fred Segal when she needs a serious sartorial fix. At the top of her list right now: “any knit dress from Missoni, and the beautiful silk baby-doll tops from Etro.” Dondup is another favourite. The Italian line’s beaded chiffon vests and slouchy gun-metal grey tanks will be making their way into her closet and onto her store racks this spring. “I could live in Dondup,” says Linden. “Everything is classic but sexy.” Won’t be hard to pick her out on the Jumbotron, then. 

First published in FASHION Magazine April 2006 click here for original article.