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Last Friday, Queen West menswear shop Nomad became the latest Toronto-based menswear store to launch an on-line shopping portal. Of course, “store gets Web site” is hardly news, but what caught our attention is the trendy way Nomad went about it. Its slick combination of e-tail, photography and original editorial content reflects the character of the store and makes its brand more relatable. (The blog on nomadshop.net discusses new products, like the coffee table book by contemporary artist Kaws, and new lines to be offered in the store, like Alden Shoe Co.) It’s a trend we’ve been noticing everywhere, from Jonathan and Olivia to Sydney’s.
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Nomad latest menswear store to get on the e-tail bandwagon
Introducing: Oliver Spencer, Queen West’s new menswear boutique
The clothes at Oliver Spencer are wearable and made for cool temperatures (Image: Fraser Abe)
The place: British tailor turned menswear impresario Oliver Spencer has opened his first Canadian outpost (his third shop; the others are in New York City and London) on Queen Street West, smack dab between fellow men’s retailers Fred Perry and Ruins. Spencer has clearly received the Queen Street decor memo: there is the requisite exposed brick, rough-hewn hardwood flooring and kooky accents (this time in the form of beakers, test tubes, butterfly specimens under glass and a human anatomy poster). Beyond the standard-issue interior, there’s a lot for guys to get excited about here—namely, a collection of wearable clothes not too avant-garde (read: weird-looking) to pull off.
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Our everything-but-the-pocket-watch-primer on the season’s sartorial schoolboy
Shoes $215 at John Fluevog; socks $30 at Harry Rosen; trousers $89 at Club Monaco
The Third Law of Motion says every action has an equal and opposite reaction, and while we generally shy away from breaking fashion down into a science, the current collegiate craze—the one that has Toronto dandies rolling up their pants like a pack of post-pubescent Tom Sawyers—neatly demonstrates Newton’s point. Just a year ago, our most fashion-forward subsets were flannel-shirt deep in the urban woodsman aesthetic, celebrating all that is burly and butch. Now we have a city full of grown men reining in their facial hair (because baby’s bum is the new beard) and taking fashion cues from the halls of higher learning—that world of privilege, pomp and paisley.
Lifestyle tips for the schoolboy sartorialist
Ride: Like all things beloved by the schoolboy, this Linus one-speed bike channels a bygone era. $550. Bikes on Wheels, 309 Augusta Ave., 416‑966-2453.
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Three essential men’s accessories and where to get them
The suspenders: $24. Cabaret Vintage, 672 Queen St. W., 416-504‑7126.
The bow tie: $100, Gregory Allen collection. GotStyle, 60 Bathurst St., 416-260‑9696.
The bespoke vest: from $260. GreenShag, 670 Queen St. W., 416-360‑7424.
(Images: John Burgoyne)
Super Shopper: our monthly roundup of the city’s best stuff
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A must-have French press, double ties and the rest of the city’s best stuff this month. View the slide show >>
The Bay vs. Holts: the Bay’s scheme to steal the fashion crown from Holts
The sensible shoes and twin–sets are gone, replaced by stilettos and crystal-encrusted gowns. There’s valet parking and personal shoppers, and they’re serving champagne up on three. It’s all part of the Bay’s scheme to win the loyalty of society shopaholics—and steal the fashion crown from Holts
(Image: George Pimentel)
One evening last March, Toronto’s stylish set put on their best frocks and headed to a retail baptism. Sarah Jessica Parker, celebrity high priestess of fashion, was in town to launch the Halston Heritage label at The Bay. The party, which reportedly cost over $200,000, was meant to establish Canada’s oldest department store as a major player in high-end womenswear. If retailers can be born again, this was The Bay’s moment to lean back and dip its head into the holy water.
Fashion media and socialites were ushered into the Queen Street flagship store and up the escalator to sip champagne on the third floor. That’s where The Room is located. The upscale designer dress salon was renovated a year ago for approximately $4.4 million in a high modernist style by the designers Yabu Pushelberg. The result is a treasure trove of conversation piece baubles, heels, flirty cocktail dresses and gowns by some of the most prestigious designers in the business. It’s the beating heart of the new Bay. Read the rest of this entry »
Our pick for a military-style men’s jacket
Two weeks ago, we posted a couple of fall outerwear options for women, and today we present a beautifully made men’s coat. Canadian designer Ken Chow, the man behind the label Krane, has done it again. Not only are his fine leather bags absolutely phenomenal every season, but the detail and quality of his menswear is worthy of Savile Row (in the U.S., it’s sold at Barneys and Fred Segal).
This army-inspired blazer fits like bespoke; the contrasting wool knit fabric brings it down to a more casual level. It’s not inexpensive at $845, but it’s made in Canada and will last for years.
Available at Delphic, 706 Queen St. W., 416-603-3334.
A return to the good old days at Joe Fresh Style
(Image: Jenna Marie Wakani)
After yesterday’s news that Joe Fresh is making new Scouts Canada uniforms, it wasn’t a shock to see wilderness looks in its spring show last night. Navy turtlenecks, slim-fitting button-downs and even cigarette pants were decorated with merit badges (proficiency in budget shopping, perhaps?). In menswear, khaki shorts with red trim, loafers (with socks) and olive shirts echoed our childhood scout uniform—though this time around, we wouldn’t throw a tantrum every time we put them on.
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Introducing: Ruins, a new men’s store at Queen and Shaw
Ruins has been lovingly renovated by the owners and their friends (Image: Hayley Murray)
The place: Impresario turned storekeeper Mikey Apples’ résumé lists several vocations: band manager, wardrobe assistant and vintage picker. So it’s fitting that Ruins, the menswear shop he owns with Josh Reichmann, another music industry veteran, functions as a cultural hub on Queen West. The store displays works by local artists, hosts shows by up-and-coming musicians and stocks obscure fashion tomes.
The owners and their friends did all the renovations, down to the metal window cages, fashioned by publisher, artist and smithy Tony Romano. A gothic archway salvaged from a church outside Toronto leads to Leonard’s—the in-house salon—where clients can go for a straight-razor shave.
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Holt Renfrew showcase gives fashion week a major boost
(Image: Jenna Marie Wakani)
Last season, when one of the best fashion shows was staged not on the official LG runway but inside the Holt Renfrew café, tongues were a-wagging. The country’s top designers (Jeremy Laing, Denis Gagnon and Lida Baday among them) weren’t on the fashion week bill but did present a handful of looks for the intimate preview. So we assume it was a good day for fashion week organizers the FDCC when Holt Renfrew told them it was bringing its stable of Canadian talent to the official schedule and onto the runway. They even made the showcase the week’s opening event. Held last night, the tony department store’s With True Patriot Love presentation featured five looks from nine of the country’s most loved labels—all available at Holts, naturally.
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Coco Rocha, bouncers and an hour-long wait at the Greta Constantine show
(Image: Jenna Marie Wakani)
A Greta Constantine show is always a spectacle; last season, design duo Kirk Pickersgill and Stephen Wong showed the collection at a sprawling Audi dealership on the Bayview Extension. It’s the most anticipated event in the run-up to LG fashion week, so it’s no surprise that the atmosphere at the spring 2011 show echoed that of a nearby Richmond Street nightclub—lineups, broken glassware and surly bouncers included. The venue: 161 Spadina Avenue (the same space used for TIFF’s splashy Soho House parties and Colin Firth’s 50th). Guests waited an hour after the scheduled start time for the show to begin, tweeting their dismay but sated by an open bar and charcuterie table prepared by Parts and Labour.
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The Brick Works debuts as a fashion show venue
Spotted: models at the Brick Works
We already get organic purple carrots and Jamie Kennedy french fries there on weekends, but the Evergreen Brick Works moved from food to fashion last night with its debut as a show venue. Audi presented the collections of Joeffer Caoc, Dimitri Chris and Nada in the massive kilns building, which will be used as a gallery for art exhibitions and installations. It’s an amazing venue, but last night the hangar-like space was unheated, and as the temperature plunged, host Glen Baxter of Fashion Television laughed, “It’s so cold I can see my breath.” Us too, Glen.
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See Philip Sparks’s spring collection and his new women’s line
(Image: Jenna Marie Wakani)
Philip Sparks showed his spring-summer 2011 collection to a packed house at the Burroughes Building at Queen and Bathurst last night (see the slide show of the collection here). Known for his menswear, Sparks debuted his first line of women’s apparel, his response to the hordes of fashionable ladies who have long coveted Sparks’s line of boots, shoes and smartly cut trousers and vests. Preppy was the name of the game—we can see any of these looks on a yacht or at the country club—in blue plaids and buffalo checks. We loved a flouncy navy skirt and the khaki coloured Mac jacket with indigo grosgrain trim. As the evening came to a close and guests lingered over bubbly, models stuffed piles of the free Cromwell and Cruthers shaving oil samples into their bags. It is fashion week, after all. A guy’s got to look his best. Begin slide show >>
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Introducing: The Future of Frances Watson, Parkdale’s new menswear shop
Smart money would have been on a store opening in Parkdale this fall to clothe the patrons of neighbourhood hotter-than-hot spot Parts and Labour. And here it is, across from the Dollarama at Queen and O’Hara. Read about the boutique after the jump.
(Image: Fraser Abe)
