High-End Shopping in Toronto

Welcome to high-end heaven, Madame
Published On Fri Nov 18 2011 - Toronto Star
http://www.thestar.com/living/shopping/article/1089368--welcome-to-high-end-heaven-madame

Models display creations by the Italian designer Alberta Ferretti during the Cali Exposhow fashion week in Cali, Colombia, on Oct. 18, 2011. Ferretti fashion can be bought at The Room at The Bay (176 Yonge St.) and TNT (87 Avenue Rd.).

Models display creations by the Italian designer Alberta Ferretti during the Cali Exposhow fashion week in Cali, Colombia, on Oct. 18, 2011. Ferretti fashion can be bought at The Room at The Bay (176 Yonge St.) and TNT (87 Avenue Rd.).
Fernando Vergara/AP
Image
By Rita Zekas Special to the Star

Mama’s always gotta have a brand new bag.

And a pair of $1,650 Christian Louboutin suede platform sling backs with fur trim.

A girl can never have too many shoes, cashmere, chocolate, champagne or black. As long as it doesn’t make her butt look big.

The euro is in peril, the U.S. economy is in free fall, but not all of us are suffering from dollardrums.

The Hermès Birkin, the holy grail of handbags, is wait-listed for up to three years at Hermès (130 Bloor St. W.), and can run from $9,000 to $150,000 depending on the skins.

Happily, Toronto is ground zero for high-end shopping. The Mink Mile, that rarefied strip of surreal estate bordering Bloor and Yorkville, is home to big-ticket names from Prada to Escada. Everywhere you look, there is Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Hermès, Calvin Klein, Max Mara, Burberry, Gucci, Lacoste, Michael Kors and Milly.

Luxury goods are no longer politically incorrect. Previously, high-end shoppers have been known to eschew designer shopping bags to transport their purchases in favour of unmarked ones lest they be harshly judged. Nobody is brown bagging it these days unless they’ve been shopping at Whole Foods.

But should Madame prefer to shop incognito, she can drop $4,200 for a pair of Gold & Wood Paris sunglasses with diamonds at Optical Outlook (104 Yorkville Ave.). Feeling frugal? Their sunglasses normally average between $500 and $600.

Afterwards, she can slip into $350 Denham jeans at Over the Rainbow across the street (101 Yorkville Ave.). Or try on a pair of $965 Helmut Lang leather leggings at Intermix, the first Canadian installation of the U.S. chain of trend-spotting boutiques, newly opened at 130 Bloor St. W.

The Room at The Bay’s Queen Street location (176 Yonge St.) is one-stop label-shopping.

Madame would summon her car for the trip downtown. Luxury means not taking public transit. Conspicuous consumers have the driver and the Bentley; a limo is too Diddy.

All the high-end, hot lines are at The Room, including Maison Martin Margiela, Balmain, Armani, Rochas, Erdem, Moschino, Sonia Rykiel, Ungaro, Roland Mouret, Proenza Schouler, Matthew Williamson, L’Wren Scott, Alberta Ferretti and Claudia Schiffer, supermodel turned knitwear designer, whose grandfather cashmere cardie sells for $695.

Two ladies are deposited on plush seating, sipping champagne by the concierge desk, with two little doggies at their feet.

The snob factor is always a driving force: at luxury stores, higher prices are often considered a mark of quality. A Henley by Balmain is a bite-me $440.

A Henley is essentially just a men’s collarless pullover shirt originally worn by rowers in the English town of Henley-on-Thames. You can get a heritage Henley at Roots for $58.

Felicity Brown, a designer from New York, is one to watch at The Room. Her deconstructed, almost lingerie-like shredded garments are reworked with contrasting tailored pieces and go for $1,500 to $3,600. Think early Rodarte.

Rodarte is one of the luxury brands selling at Holt Renfrew (50 Bloor St. W.). We loved the Rodarte wool coat with vivid fuchsia goat hair fur at the cuff and hem priced at $1,175.

The real coup for Holt’s is the new Tom Ford women’s line, which they have exclusively in Canada.

A Tom Ford tuxedo jacket will set you back $4,700; a velvet skirt costs $2,580; and a biker jacket is $8,750, which is $50 less than the price of a Hermès Kelly bag.

We have entry-level Tom Ford: the $48 lipstick and a pair of sunglasses — which we bought at Winners.

119 Corbo (119 Yorkville Ave.) favours the edgier labels like Alexander McQueen, Rick Owens, Dries Van Noten, Haider Ackermann and Ann Demeulemeester.

Go there with empty credit card.

The women’s section upstairs at George C (21 Hazelton Ave.) carries couture pieces by Giles Deacon for $34,000.

Suzanne Rogers has ordered one.

Hazelton Lanes (87 Avenue Rd.) is undergoing a facelift but is still a go-to for TNT and Fabrice jewellery store. (Other select bijouteries include Tiffany & Company at 85 Bloor St. W.; Royal de Versailles at 101 Bloor St. W.; Cartier at 131 Bloor St. W., and Secrett Jewel Salon at 162 Cumberland St.).

TNT (The New Trend) has been renovated to the size of Varsity Stadium. It is 18,000 square feet on two levels for women and a new free-standing menswear store on the second level.

They carry 350 brands of womenswear from all over the world — Comme des Garçons and Isabel Marant are huge sellers — and target a wide demographic from cosseted teens to octogenarians not on a pension. An on-trend pink Mongolian fur chubby jacket from Alberta Ferretti is $2,995 and a sexy black stretch leather dress from the French label Jitrois is $3,100.

Teens love the Free City sweat pants for $165 (Free City is better than “Juicy” on the butt).

R.A.D. (which stands for Research and Development) in the new uber cool section of town at 899 Dundas St. W., carries esoteric lines like Lost and Found, not found anywhere else.

Yorkville is a centipede’s delight. High-end footwear is everywhere including Holt Renfrew, Davids (66 Bloor St. W.), and George C, home of the Botox-injected bag by Zagliani ($3,500 for metallic gold python) and the Rocco P ostrich boots available in a variety of colours for $2,600.

Well-heeled men are wild about Harry and Sydney.

Harry Rosen (82 Bloor St. W.) is the destination for deep-pocketed gents who have no problem dropping $215 on a tie. Meanwhile, hipsters blow their trust funds at Sydney’s (682 Queen St. W.) on items by edgy, esoteric line M.A.+ from Rome.

Other high-end menswear purveyors of choice include Gotstyle (62 Bathurst St.); Brooks Brothers at 200 Bay St.; Nicolas Men at 153 Cumberland St.; Serpentine at 18 Hazelton Ave. for menfolk channelling their inner Goth; and George C, who carries the cool line Drome, featuring a magnificent leather jacket for $1,998.

The kids are all right. Trust-fund babies can be outfitted at La Boutique de Floriane at 38 Avenue Rd. for designer wear imported from France. And across the street at 45 Avenue Rd. is Devilish Angelz, “the place where trendy kids (from ages 2 to 16) shop.”

For little dapper dudes, Devilish has the Scotch Shrunk line, a pint-sized version of Scotch and Soda, featuring a checked shirt with bow tie and herring-bone elbow patches for $110.

Fledgling fashionistas love the navy blue shift dress with marabou feathers on the shoulder made by the Toronto label Matooka for $149.

If you can squeeze into a kid size, it is a bargain. Tiny Kristen Chenoweth wears clothes from Crewcuts, the J. Crew junior line.

Go west, Queen St. West, for bespoke emporiums like Magpie Design at 884 Queen St. W. for artfully deconstructed womenswear favoured by divas like Measha Brueggergosman. Or Hoax Couture at 515 Queen St. W., which made reversible fox fur coats for $5,500.

Need a pen to seal the deal? There’s Montblanc Boutique Toronto at 151 Bloor St. W.

Or high-flying luggage to pack it all in? Check out Rimowa at 101 Bloor St. W. and Taschen at 162 Cumberland St.

There are even luxury consignment resale shops. Off The Cuff resale designer menswear at 5 Broadway Ave. offers everything from Jil Sander to Etro.

Shoppe D’Or, 18 Cumberland St., stocks designer labels like Prada and Chanel, some of which still have the original tags attached. Among the booty: brand new Ann Demeulemeester biker boots for $400.

At the end of the day, luxury shoppers return to their beautifully appointed homes, furnished and burnished by high-end decor stores including:

• Teatro Verde, 98 Yorkville Ave.

• Studio B, 380 King St. E.

• Klaus by Nienkamper, 300 King St. E.

• italinteriors, 359 King St. E.

• The Art Shoppe, 2131 Yonge St.

• South Hill Home, 200 Dupont St.

• Hollace Cluny, 1070 Yonge St.

• Living Arts Design, 788 King St. W.

• ELTE, 80 Ronald Ave.

• Avenue Road, 415 Eastern Ave.

• Powell & Bonnell, 236 Davenport Rd.

• Industrial Storm, 1106 Queen St. W.


• Stanley Wagman & Son Antiques Ltd., 224 Davenport Rd.

• Robert Noakes International Ltd., 245 Davenport Rd.

Madame can settle in at home in her jammies from Avec Plaisir Fine Lingerie & Swimwear (136 Cumberland St.) and shop online at Net-a-Porter.