Spring Sneaks

We love strolling about in all seasons, but spring in Toronto, that brief bout of clement weather wedged between the long, harsh freeze of Canadian winter and the sweltering sauna of summer, finds us especially street-happy. All that walking around sure does a number on our sneakers, but fortunately, spring is a time for new beginnings so it's easy to justify a new pair of sneaks as part of the whole spring cleaning package.

Around King/Spadina, there are lots of shops with a decent selection of sneakers, but rather than enumerate all the dozens of places you can pick up a pair of chucks or Nikes, I thought I'd concentrate on slightly harder-to-find casual brands and styles:

C Squared (365 Queen St. W)

This is the place to go for a pair of Campers. This popular Spanish brand is surprisingly difficult to come by in Toronto - there is no Camper store here yet (not for long, hopefully!). C Squared carries the biggest selection of Camper sneaks in the city, as well as other interesting footwear and apparel.

Livestock (116 Spadina Ave.)

Vancouver-based Livestock set up shop in Toronto recently, offering a selection of rarer Vans styles. A selection of streetwear apparel is also available, including some by Pharell's Billionaire Boys Club label.

Goodfoot (431 Richmond St. W)

The mecca for Toronto sneaker freaks, Goodfoot carries the latest rare sneakers as well as hard-to-find vintage styles. Great store design and informative staff make a visit to the store an educational, even cultural, experience - a store, but also a sneaker gallery in a way.

Get Outside (437 Queen St. W)

A Queen Street institution, this is the place to go for Clarks, Tsubo, Ben Sherman and a number of other brands. Even spotted some Evisu chucks there as of late. A good selection of Converse and Vans is also available.

Da Zone (468 Queen St. W)

If all else fails, for a more conventional selection of stylish and affordable sneakers, Da Zone on Queen and Augusta is the place to go. Lots of Converse, Vans, Asics, Adidas, Puma can be found in this large and airy store.

Happy shopping, and happy spring!

Jeans!

Jeans are possibly the most enduring and universally loved type of garment there is. I love jeans, and wear them almost exclusively. For me, a good pair of jeans is one that fits well, has a clean and minimal look, is durable, and can be worn in both casual and dressier situations. I have a weakness for dry selvedge denim with a classic fit.

Fortunately, in the King/Spadina area, we are blessed with a number of stores where such jeans can be found. Here's a few of them:


Nomad (431 Richmond St. W)

This wonderfully designed store is a mecca of street style and should be on any serious shopper’s itinerary. Jeans-wise, they carry a good selection of A.P.C., Imperial, Wings+Horns and Nom De Guerre.

Ransom (431 Richmond St. W)

Upstairs from Nomad is its sister store, Ransom, which has a more casual selection of street wear, and vintage reproductions from Levi's, like the LVC 1948 501. They also have their own original line of dry denim jeans which looks promising.

Next Door (433 Queen St. W)

A couple of minutes' walk from Nomad/Ransom is Next Door, which specializes in more formal stuff, and carries a few jeans from Acne and J. Lindeberg.

GotStyle (489 King St. W, 2nd floor)

This menswear store has lots of interesting stuff on hand, including some nice jean brands, like Kicking Mule.


Gotta start saving for that fancy denim!

Spaceship Umbra

Last night I had a bit of time to kill before the Brian Auger show at Jeff Healey's Roadhouse so I decided to take a walk up to the new Umbra concept store on John Street.



I was lucky enough to stumble into a special event they were having, with wine and snacks and notable locals including councillor Adam Vaughn. Also on hand was architect Will Alsop, who designed the store and, more famously, the Sharp Centre for Design just up the street. Cameras were flashing, improptu interviews were being given, and I was just walking around sipping my wine and minding my own business.

The building is quite stricking. Its outside is clad in vertical pink panels which are backlit and apparently produce an impressive effect at night. One employee I talked to called it "Spaceship Umbra". The interior is very open and modern, reminiscent of a gallery space but still very functional for retail. The products were mostly the usual Umbra stuff, bathroom accessories and the like, though they did have some specialty items by Karim Rashid, available on special order.

Welcome!

Welcome, people!

I am Gilbert and I will (try to) be your guide to new stuff going on in Toronto.

As those of you who live there have probably noticed, the last few years in this dynamic city have really seen it rising to the next level in almost every sense. Economically, culturally and politically, Toronto is really starting to come into its own and, while I have no illusions about being able to cover all these aspects (or one) of its development, I do hope that small bits of my experience in the city might help illustrate trends and larger-scale happenings.

I am interested in architecture and construction projects in general; in style, design and the retail and restaurant scene, and in culture and entertainment.

Since I live in the King-Spadina area, I expect that a lot of the material will be thusly spatially biased.

In the words taken from the banner above the door of a pub at Yonge-St.Clair: Don't expect much!