The Goods

A compendium of the latest store openings, hottest parties and runway shows and all the buzzy fashion gossip. Sign up for the Style newsletter for weekly updates

Five pop-up shops land on the east end of Danforth Avenue for the summer

Inside the Krystle Lee pop-up (Image: Krystle Lee)

Residents of the East Danforth—an area long euphemistically dubbed “in transition”—are banking on a series of pop-up shops to help increase its vibrancy. Copying a model that has proved successful in Newcastle, Australia, the local community association convinced four clothing stores and a bakery to take on summer-long leases in previously empty storefronts, with the possibility of staying permanently. Over the weekend, all five pop-ups launched on the stretch between Monarch Park Avenue and Woodbine: Krystle Lee, a clothing store with image consulting services;
In This Closet, a women’s apparel thrift store; e-closet, a women’s accessories and apparel shop; Cheap Thrills, a shop selling samples and seconds for men, women, and kids; and Yummy Stuff, a bakery specialising in cookies, cakes and cupcakes.

Krystle Lee, 1517 Danforth Ave., 1 647 284 5154, krystle.ca
In This Closet, 1765 Danforth Ave.
E-closet, 1801 Danforth Ave., 647-207-0494, ecloset.ca
Cheap Thrills, 1811 Danforth Ave.
Yummy Stuff, 1938 Danforth Ave., 416 531 9732, yummystuff.ca

Stores

June 18, 2013 | 4:19 pm

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Bonnie Brooks ends her five-year reign as HBC president

(Image: Bonnie Brooks)

Bonnie Brooks, the luxury retail whiz who led Hudson’s Bay’s revamp from dowdy department store to high-flying retailer, is stepping back from day-to-day leadership with a new job as vice-chairman. After becoming president in 2008, Brooks dropped hundreds of underperforming lines, like Liz Claiborne and Bill Blass, and brought in buzzier brands, like Top Shop and Coach, along with a high-end boutique that regularly draws socialites and celebrities. CEO Richard Baker says the promotion will allow Brooks to work on similar big-picture strategies for HBC’s other brands, which include 69 Home Outfitters stores and 48 Lord and Taylor department stores in the U.S. HBC chief merchant Liz Rodbell will take over as the new president. Brooks, however, will remain the public face (and voice, presumably) of the company. [Globe and Mail]

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Stores

June 18, 2013 | 2:15 pm

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Quebec’s Simons department store has plans for two GTA locations

The Place Sainte-Foy store in Quebec City (Image: Simons.ca)

Upper-middle-end department store La Maison Simons is eyeing the spaces at Yorkdale Mall and Square One Shopping Centre that Sears will vacate in March. CEO Peter Simon says he is “actively in discussion” with Oxford Properties Group to secure the stores for the family-run chain, known for its mix of inexpensive in-house brands and designer labels. Simons impressed Albertan shoppers with its first non-Quebec outpost in West Edmonton Mall last fall, and is launching a store in Ottawa’s Rideau Centre in 2015. However, its Canada-wide expansion plans have been slowed by competition from American entrant Nordstrom for retail space. The decision on who wins the leases at Yorkdale and Square One will be announced in a few months. [Toronto Star]

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Shopping

June 18, 2013 | 1:00 pm

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The Find: tough-looking wooden rings that launched a Toronto menswear brand

(Photo: Metsa)

It all started with cool packaging. Metsa’s founder, Markus Uran, studied graphic design at OCAD and wrote his thesis on branding a menswear line. His wooden two- and three-finger rings made a splash in Toronto, with their polished surfaces, geometric design and twin silver dots. Based on their popularity, Uran kept going with the fashion part, offering great shirts and other menswear staples. $100–$110.

Available through metsadesign.com.

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Stores

June 17, 2013 | 5:11 pm

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J.Crew is rumoured to be opening a Bloor Street store

(Image: Erin Seaman)

Having established its presence in Canadian malls, J.Crew is apparently now ready for Bloor West (both Kate Spade and Mulberry have followed a similar plan). A retail blog reports the preppy powerhouse is opening a new store in Guerlain’s former space at 110 Bloor. There’s no word on what exactly it will carry, but at only about 6,500 square feet, the space is likely a too small for both men’s and women’s apparel. [Retail Insider]

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Best Dressed

June 17, 2013 | 11:30 am

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Slideshow: the most memorable fashion moments from the 2013 MMVAs

Slideshow: the most memorable fashion moments from 2013 MMVAs

MuchMusic’s annual award-show-slash-star-studded-concert is usually a hotbed of crazy get-ups, but this year’s MMVAs was almost classy. Taylor Swift and Drake both picked up awards in low-key black and white, British singer Ed Sheeran catered to the crowd in a Blue Jays tee and Demi Lovato led a pack of starlets wearing LBDs. Still, there were a few instances of boundary pushing: punk princess Avril Lavigne wore a spiked crown (along with a draped dress that fuelled more speculation that she’s pregnant). Meanwhile, Vancouver band Marianas Trench came outfitted as mermaids, and instead of a limo arrived in a truck with a dunk tank in the back. Below, the best of the red carpet.

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Stores

June 14, 2013 | 11:57 am

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Lululemon is planning to open men’s-only stores

Lululemon has had a tumultuous year. The stretchy-pant mega-corp issued a massive recall of its signature pants (they were too see-through) in March, its stock has suffered a double-digit drop and CEO Christine Day resigned earlier this week. But the Vancouver company has a plan for getting its groove (pant) back: it’s opening mens-only stores by 2016 in a bid to make inroads in the lucrative male sport-wear market. The brand already has a small following among male yogis and, apparently, NHL players, who are secretly enamored with their undies.

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Street Style

June 14, 2013 | 10:30 am

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Street Style: everything from designer to DIY duds on Bloor Street

By Frances McInnis | Photography by Jenna Marie Wakani

Bloor Street’s high-low mix of luxury brands (Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Chanel) and mass-market giants (Gap, H&M, Winners) means casual U of T students and edgy shopgirls are as much a part of the street life as diamond-wearing, it bag-toting society types. Here, our favourite looks from a recent visit.

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Stores

June 12, 2013 | 3:05 pm

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Hudson’s Bay opens the largest women’s shoe store in Canada at its Queen Street flagship

Hudson’s Bay flagship shoe store HBC president Bonnie Brooks has brought a couture boutique, a new logo and several buzzy partnerships to Hudson’s Bay since taking over in 2008. The latest step in the dumpy department store’s transformation into a trendy retailer: a gleaming 50,000-square-foot ladies shoe department in its downtown flagship. The vast space—reportedly the country’s largest women’s shoe store—occupies the entire west side of the ground floor and has Hudson Bay’s mid-range brands grouped in shop-like bays. The high-end shoes formerly displayed in The Room have also moved downstairs to an expanded boutique at the Bay Street entrance, offering shoppers a wider selection from the likes of Christian Louboutin, Azzedine Alaïa, Charlotte Olympia and Pierre Hardy. The men’s footwear, meanwhile, remains relegated to the second floor. Sorry, guys.

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Shopping

June 11, 2013 | 1:00 pm

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The Find: six shirts for men brave enough to try floral prints

Plaids are staid and stripes are safe. Flowers are a real statement—for men secure with their feminine side. Here, our favourites from around the city.

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Shopping

June 11, 2013 | 10:02 am

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Isabel Marant is designing a fall collection for H&M

A month after Target announced plans to work with 3.1 Phillip Lim, its fast-fashion rival H&M has revealed it’s adding Parisian-cool designer Isabel Marant to its own roster of limited-edition designer collections. Marant, known for blending masculine tailoring with boho and rock n’ roll elements, has an easy, French sensibility that should appeal to H&M’s youthful customers (after all, this is the woman behind the wildly popular wedge sneaker). Along with clothing and accessories for women and teens, Marant will also take her first stab at designing menswear for the mass-market clothier. The collection will be available in H&M stores worldwide on November 14.

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Shopping

June 10, 2013 | 2:37 pm

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Leslieville gets a monthly outdoor flea market

Good news for vintage hounds living east of the DVP: Leslieville is getting its own open-air flea market starting this weekend. The east end’s answer to the Junction Flea runs on the third Sunday of every month until October in the space behind the Duke at Queen at Leslie. The vendor line-up for the inaugural market emphasizes vintage home goods and clothing, crafts and art, including terrariums from Crown Flora Studio, jewellery and pottery from Scandimania, quilts and baby wear from Broody Hen Designs and vintage finds from Bragg and Bee.

Queen St. E. and Leslie St., leslievilleflea.blogspot.ca. June 16, July 21, August 18, September 15 and October 20, 10 a.m.—3 p.m.

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Designers

June 7, 2013 | 2:15 pm

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Slideshow: the wonderfully peculiar Viktor & Rolf Dolls at the ROM

For years, lookalike Dutch designers Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren have chosen one or two iconic looks from each collection and miniaturized them to fit 70-centimetre-tall antique dolls. The pair, known for their conceptual, art-house designs and fantastical runway shows, see the project as a creative way to preserve their work, a kind of pint-sized retrospective. Beginning this Sunday, the ROM is exhibiting more than 25 of the Victorian figurines in a free exhibition that’s part of this year’s Luminato Festival. The dolls are arranged on a wee runway and are all meticulously styled right down to the make-up on their porcelain faces. The result is quirky, experimental and sure to delight—very much in keeping with the designers who made them. June 9-30. Royal Ontario Museum, 100 Queens Park, 416-586-8000, rom.on.ca

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Best Dressed

June 6, 2013 | 2:53 pm

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Slideshow: the stories behind 10 of the city’s most distinctive hairstyles

(Photography by Norman Wong. Hair and Makeup by Claudine Baltazar for TRESemmé Hair Care/M.A.C./PLUTINO GROUP)

Anyone from David Lee Roth to the elves from The Lord of the Rings can inspire a killer haircut. Here, a model, a society matron, a jewellery designer and seven other well-coiffed Torontonians dish on the secrets of their signature ’dos.

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Stores

June 5, 2013 | 4:55 pm

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Store Guide: Floorplay, a new Queen West store devoted entirely to socks

Store Guide: Floorplay, a socks-only store on Queen West Name: Floorplay Socks
Sells: Socks for men, women and kids, plus pantyhose, leggings and underwear
Contact info: 762 Queen St. W., 416-504-7325, floorplaysocks.com
Hours: Mon–Sat 11–7, Su 12–5
See it on a map »

The look-at-me sock trend has become so ubiquitous that Queen West now has a shop solely for the intermediary between foot and shoe. Floorplay has socks of every stripe, colour, and pattern, including hard-to-find label Richer Poorer’s suit-appropriate pairs, Pook’s colourful twists on the reliable work sock ($12 for 2 pairs) and Sock It To Me’s knee-highs printed with sock monkeys or moustaches ($10).

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