Your weekly guide to the city’s style scene, featuring news on Topshop and Topman at Yorkdale, the Drake General Store’s 50/50 concept store, and Queen West’s Inside Out Pop Up.
OPENINGS
■ U.K. high-street retailers Topshop and Topman have finally opened their first Canadian location, at The Bay Yorkdale (3401 Dufferin St., 416-789-8011. #DNS). The flashy, 15,000-square-foot, two-level store carries men’s and women’s clothes (including designer collaborations) as well as cosmetics. The store is focused on four trends this season: psychobilly (a mix of rockabilly and ’60s mod), thrift (an interpretation of girlie vintage), ’70s glamrock (faux fur, fluoro pink, hi-shine gold) and Bavaria (an Old World folkloric look).
■ The Drake General Store has opened 50/50 (1140 Queen St. W., 416-531-5042. #WQW), a concept store with a funky combination of apparel and second-hand furnishings. Fitting of the name, the shop is divided in half. The white side offers a handful of clothing lines, including Pendleton’s Portland Collection. The black side is home to artifacts from the shop’s salvage operation, Hot Hunt, such as a set of coral-coloured school lockers and vintage wall maps.
■ The Inside Out Pop Up (1040 Queen St. W. #WQW) opened this week with a collection of period furs, coats and hats from the ’20s to the ’50s. It’s all from Jill Moroz’s Montreal vintage store The Little Shoppe, a resource for film costumers and stylists. Moroz, who inherited the shop and its collection of clothing from her mother, has teamed up with Eva Tolkin to bring some of these pieces to Toronto (the collection was outgrowing The Little Shoppe’s three-storey space). Inside Out will also house an informal gallery to showcase the work of new local artists. “I really wanted the space to be sort of a salon, a place to have tea, try stuff on and take pictures… like an ongoing dress party,” says Tolkin. You can visit the pop-up Monday to Saturday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., and on Sunday from noon to 5 p.m.
EVENTS
■ Gotstyle The Menswear Store (62 Bathurst St., 416-260-9696. #KGW) is hosting a suit trade-in event throughout October. Bring in an old suit to receive a $50 credit towards the purchase of a new one from the store. The retired suits will be donated to charity.
