British-styled Menswear in Toronto

The Toronto Star honoured Kingpin’s Hideaway this past week by being included among the august body of upscale menswear stores found in the West Queen West  art and design district in Toronto, Ontario. The article, by Derick Chetty, outlined the rise and concentration of British-styled menswear shops,

“It’s unlike any other city I’ve been – not even in Paris or London have I seen such a growth of men’s shops in one area,” says Sydney Mamane, who opened his eponymous store – and one of the first men’s stores on the block – six years ago.

As for reasons for the growth of testosterone retailing in this neighbourhood, it’s anyone’s guess. Mamane theorizes perhaps the women’s market is crowded and highly competitive, and menswear appears to be untapped.

In the celebrated vintage store Cabaret – Andre 3000 and David Arquette have paid visits – there is a pop-up shop [Kingpin’s Hideaway] dedicated exclusively to vintage menswear or “gentleman’s wear” as curator Jonathan Hagey likes to call it.

Kingpin's Hideaway Makes the Toronto Star

The article appeared on the front page of the Life section of the paper (not too shabby) and I’ve included an image of the intro as well.

The full article online is in the pay-for-use section of the Star, so I’ve posted a PDF of the entire print version:

All The Queens Men Article in the Toronto Star