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(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]
Address: 38 Avenue Road, Suite 1102
Neighbourhood: Yorkville
Agent:Peter Moazzani, Sotheby’s International Realty Canada, Brokerage
Price: $3,795,000
The Place: A four-bedroom unit in The Prince Arthur, the full-service building recognizable by its three-storey archway on Avenue Road and Yorkville Avenue.
The incursion of big American brands continues with the opening of a new Yorkville store from girly accessories purveyor Kate Spade New York. The new spot on Cumberland (in the former home of Hugo Boss) opened on Friday and is now the label’s Canadian flagship. With two floors spanning 4,000 square feet, it’s decidedly larger than its first Toronto location, which opened in Yorkdale mall in November. The store also has a wider selection of the brand’s bags, clothing, shoes and jewellery, as well as an expanded beauty bar.
138 Cumberland St., 416-927-8282, katespade.com
Name: LeatherFoot
Sells: Men’s shoes, shoe care products, bags and accessories
Contact info: 24 Bellair St. Unit 7, 416-967-3668, leatherfoot.com
Hours: M–W, Sa 11–6, Th–F 11–8, Su 12–3
See it on a map »
LeatherFoot specializes in handcrafted leather shoes for men, the kind of investment pieces that a gent will still be wearing forty years from now. The Yorkville shop’s off-the-rack pairs range from $310 for driving shoes by La Cordonnerie Anglaise to $1850 for hand-stained monkstraps by Saint Crispin’s (whose Romanian workshop reportedly produces fewer than 1,300 pairs each year). However, discerning shoppers willing to wait a few months and chip in an extra $200 or more can specify the leather, colour and soles of any shoe in the store, including pairs by England’s Alfred Sargent and Spanish brand Carmina. Finally, the truly shoe-obsessed can order bespoke pairs (starting around $5,000), in which the entire last is made according to the client’s measurements.
Cocoa raspberry shortbread (Image: Distill Design)
Chocolate Brunette Pastry Company recently opened at Ave and Dav, selling truffles, Italians sweets and their own whipped-cream-and-mousse cupcake bombs. The boutique food shop’s hedonistic creations, like the sweet revenge cupcake filled with toasted walnuts and milk chocolate ganache and the vanilla coconut cupcake topped with mascarpone coconut mousse, look like they could rival the nearby, newly opened, Prairie Girl Bakery’s cupcakes in their epicurean insanity.
Chocolate Brunette Pastry Company. 182 Avenue Rd., 416-834-9711, chocolatebrunette.com
Bloor bisto La Société (Image: Gizelle Lau)
The buzzy Bloor Street bistro wants you to eat just like Toronto’s fashion elite. Charles Khabouth’s Yorkville restaurant is creating special menus based on stylish Torontonians personal recipes. The menus started in April with healthy dishes and fun cocktails from the people at The Coveteur, and this month fashion icon Jeanne Beker is sharing recipes for her Moroccan spiced snapper and chestnut crêpes. Next month, socialite Suzanne Rogers is up. If her cooking is anything like her fashion, we expect very rich, very bold dishes topped with the culinary equivalent of a whole lot of lace.
(Image: Prairie Girl Bakery)
The wildly popular bakery specializing in deliciously decadent artisanal cupcakes opened a third location at the corner of Bloor West and Avenue Road on Friday. The Yorkville shop carries the same cake-and-icing bombs as Prairie Girl’s King East and Path locations, like banana with peanut butter icing, carrot with cream cheese icing and the best-selling red velvet cupcakes pictured above.
Gerhard Supply, a menswear shop in the Junction, was one of several stores to launch last month (Image: Erin Seaman)
(Image: Kayla Rocca)
Target
After two years and more than a little controversy, the trendy mass-market giant finally arrived in Canada. Now open: locations in East York Town Centre, Centrepoint Mall, Shoppers World Danforth, Cloverdale Mall and Square One Shopping Centre.
For store addresses and hours, see target.ca
(Image: Erin Seaman)
Tiger of Sweden
The popular European maker of slim-cut suits and minimalist separates opened a spacious flagship on Ossington Avenue catering to young professionals of both sexes. Learn more »
56 Ossington Ave., 416-588-4437, tigerofsweden.com
Suitsupply’s New York store (Image: Thabi2012)
Suitsupply, a hugely successful menswear label headquartered in Amsterdam, is launching its first Canadian outpost in Yorkville this fall. For those who haven’t been to the brand’s stores in Europe, the U.K. and New York, it’s known for its off-the-rack suits made from Italian fabric and priced around $500. (It also won New York magazine’s “best suits” award last year, clothed the Dutch Olympic team in London and has been called a “wardrobe go-to” by Tim Gunn—not bad for a company that started in a dorm room.) Expanding into Canada was a “no-brainer,” said a Suitsupply rep, because Canadians were flocking to the New York store and a big chunk of the brand’s online traffic was coming from Toronto. The store will be at least 5,000 square feet and will carry the full collection, including casual wear, bags, and accessories. No word yet on whether the company will also be bringing its infamously racy ads to Canada.
Three high-profile stores are headed to the Mink Mile in the coming months. The biggest: a 9,000-square-foot Dolce and Gabbana store featuring a luxurious decor of black glass, walnut and velvet furniture, which is taking over 111 Bloor Street West, the space Louis Vuitton vacated when it moved across the street. High-end shoe store Stuart Weitzman is setting up at 151 Bloor Street West, in Ports 1961’s former space, and a few blocks away in Yorkville proper, Kate Spade has plans for its second Toronto store—a multi-level flagship on Yorkville Avenue at Hazelton. Although Yorkdale Shopping Centre has been attracting a lot of high-profile stores lately, Toronto’s toniest retail strip isn’t exactly lagging behind.
Name: Craft and Guile
Sells: Women’s clothing and jewellery, and vintage designer bags and shoes
Contact info: 70 Yorkville Ave., 416-924-4369, craftandguile.com
Hours: Su–W 11–6, Th–Sa 11–8
See it on a map »
Craft and Guile, a womenswear boutique that soft-opened on Yorkville Avenue on Saturday, caters to the twenty-somethings in the nearby condo towers, rather than the society dames who venture south from Rosedale to shop. The merchandise includes brands favoured by Nicole Ritchie and the Kardashian sisters, and is squarely on-trend (right now, that means peplums, faux-leather accents and pastel mint and pink). Label junkies can also find—or consign—vintage shoes and handbags, like Gucci and Louboutin pumps ($400-$750) and Balenciaga and Chanel bags ($600 and $3,100, respectively).
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Address: 55 Scollard Street, Suite 1901
Neighbourhood: Yorkville
Agent: Nissan Michael, Hazelton Real Estate Inc., Brokerage
Price: $8,500/month
The Place: A two-bedroom unit in the east tower of the new-and-improved Four Seasons Hotel and Residences.
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Leerom Segal’s Yorkville penthouse exists, almost exclusively, for parties. Segal, the 33-year-old president and CEO of the digital marketing firm Klick Health, travels for work most weeks. So when he’s home, he likes to see his friends. And when he sees his friends, he likes to show them a good time. Last year, he decided to turn his condo, which he’d been living in since 2009, into an event space, a modern-day Gatsby–esque playground for killer barbecues and splashy all-night dinners.
When we last went style scouting in Yorkville, the breeze was warm, and sunglasses, miniskirts and iced coffees were everywhere. This time, the area’s shoppers and strollers were hidden beneath layers of cold-weather armour—which isn’t to say their outfits lacked style. We saw how a faux-fur collar (and a fierce “blue steel” pose) can liven up a winter coat. We admired hard-edged details like capped-toe shoes and a toque adorned with metal spikes. And, thanks to some bright pants and even brighter hair, we remembered that spring isn’t so far off.
If you know where to look, Toronto is a very naughty town. Here, the best lingerie stores in Toronto—for everything from bustiers to briefs.
BUSTIERS
Très Jolie
2457 Yonge St., 416-484-6402
The front window of this midtown shop displays more flannel nighties than an L. L. Bean catalogue. Inside, however, you’ll find a collection of sultry underthings. The showstopper is a Moulin Rouge–style basque bustier from the French label Passionata, lined with lacy black bra cups, vampy garters and waist-cinching tulle panels with criss-crossing up the sides ($99).
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