Press

Toronto’s top retail fitting rooms

The perfect fitting room has good lighting, comfortable design and an ambience that puts shoppers in a positive mood for trying on clothes and parting with their money.

In most Toronto fitting rooms, of course, the opposite holds true. Usually tucked at the back of the store, this vital part of the consumer experience is often cramped, dirty and poorly designed — primarily because for many retailers the changing room is an afterthought in a business plan that dedicates maximum space to displaying merchandise.

The city’s luxe designer stores boast the Taj Mahals of fitting rooms, of course — The Platinum Suites at The Room at the Bay and the private shopping suites at the flagship Holt Renfrew on Bloor Street offer wonderful environments for trying on clothes ... read more

 


 

Backseat Stylers

I live in the heart of downtown Toronto, so when an invite to an event to be held in suburbia arrives, I think long and hard about making the trek. Such was the case when the invitation for the Grafic Woman and Grafic Online launch party popped up in my inbox. Located in Woodbridge, Ontario, the new boutique was hosting "Playing with Fire", an evening that promised hot Canadian and international fashion and even hotter cars, courtesy of Pfaff‘s fleet of luxury automobiles. Lengthy car ride or not, I was in.

Of course, one can hardly complain when that lengthy car ride is in a brand spankin' new Audi Q7 that drops you off on the doorstep of the chicest boutique I've had the pleasure of stepping foot in north of Toronto (and I grew up there). The new Grafic Woman boutique was shiny and new, and filled to the brim with my favourite contemporary labels from Canada and abroad: Smythe, Pink Tartan, LINE, Tara Jarmon, Robert Rodriguez,Melissa... the list goes on. The standout piece was the lovely Hoss Intropia lace dress that blogger extraordinaire Anita Clarke donned for her gig as hostess with the mostess of the evening ... read more

 


 

Fashionights

Last week, Toronto media, fashionalities and the like were whisked away to the lovely town of Woodbridge, ON (where to my sweet, sweet, surprise has not changed one bit since I literally grew up there) to enjoy in an amazing and dare I say outlandishly good party to celebrate the launch of online boutique, Grafic Online.

An event titled, “Playing With Fire,” I was left to wonder where all the fire was when I got out of my chauffeured Porsche Cayenne, (courtesy of the über luxePfaff, no, but seriously, hiring them for everything.) but I was in for a scorcher when I found out why later.

Located at 3883 Rutherford Road at Hwy 400 in Woodbridge (Vaughn, Maple, or whatever you want to call it.), Ontario, Grafic has established itself in the neighbourhood with Grafic Man a store catering solely to men; and now, with it’s sister store Grafic Woman & Grafic Online, promising to take over Canada ... read more

 


 

Freshly Educated Men

On Monday, September 26, Grafic officially launched their online boutique, Grafic Online and their third concept store, Grafic Woman just north of Toronto in Woodbridge with the help of the amazing "geekigirl" Anita Clark of I Want I Got who was the guest host for the evening.

So, what happens when a company that prides itself on being the “curators of high-fashion” decides to throw a launch party? Well, what you get is an event you won’t soon forget as owners Doriano Di Carlo and Fabio Sardellitti spared no expense on this event. For starters they quite literally shut down the entire plaza. They had a tent (as seen above) erected to play host to all the VIP guests, media and the runway show. Car service courtesy of Pfaff brought media and VIP’s from downtown Toronto in luxury vehicles, including the Audi Q7, Porsche Cayenne and Porsche Panarama. Greygoose and Hennessy poured freely and were complimented by a wonderful assortment of appetizers. Couple that with a live fire dancer, acoustic drummers, excotic dancers, a very talented solo electric guitarist and you quite possibly have an event that rivals most pro-game festivities. Needless to say at this point the actual fashion show became the icing on the cake, which I must say it most definitely was ... read more

 


 

I Want I Got

I hosted the Playing with Fire event on Monday. It celebrated the launch of the new Grafic Woman boutique (sister store to Grafic Man) and the new Grafic e-commerce portal. Grafic, co-owned by Doriano Di Carlo and Fabio Sardellitti, started catering exclusively to fashion forward men in 2003. The success of Grafic Man and requests from customers brought about the creation of Graphic Woman and the online business. Grafic online ships all across Canada.

When I was asked to host Playing with Fire the first thing that went through my head was Woodbridge. Grafic Woman and Man are found at 3883 Rutherford Road in Woodbridge, Ontario. I grew up in Richmond Hill so I was familiar with the area but didn’t think of it as a fashion destination for any reason. I did a little Internet sleuthing and asked some questions. It assured me that Grafic carried great brands and the boutiques were beautiful ... read more

 


 

The Fashionist

Last week Toronto fashionistas headed north of the city for Grafic's "Playing With Fire" fashion extravaganza. The bash was in celebration of the opening of the new Grafic Woman store and the launch of Grafic's new online boutique.

Located at 3883 Rutherford Road at Hwy 400 in Woodbridge, Ontario, Grafic Woman now complements the existing Grafic stores; Grafic Concept and Grafic Man, which had previously catered solely to the modern man. The new 1,500 square foot women's wear and accessory store is slick (the design comes courtesy of celebrated interior designer Johnson Chou, whose projects also include Intermix, TNT and Blowfish Restaurant) and inside the racks are filled with selections from fab brands from across Canada and across the globe including: Camilla Skovgaard, Hoss Intropia, Line Knitwear, Nicole Miller, Pink Tartan, Smythe, Tara Jarmon and ... read more

 


 

The Souls of My Shoes

Grafic Woman, a stylish boutique found north of Toronto venturing outside of the City of Toronto for a fashion event is not the norm for a runway show or a store opening, because the idea of high-end boutiques and clothing found in the 905 area code is a combination not often seen in the suburbs.

Therefore, when I received an invitation to attend Grafic Concept’s third store opening, Grafic Woman and its online boutique, Grafic Online I was a little hesitant yet interested to know a store in Woodbridge who carries designer brands such as Nicole Miller and Hoss Intropia exists.

Upon arriving in Woodbridge I immediately gravitated towards Grafic Woman, a 1,500 square-foot space outfitted in rich décor with well-stocked shelves that carry a balanced combination of Canadian and International brands; Line Knitwear, Smythe and Tara Jarmon just to name a few ... read more

 


 

Toronto Street Fashion

It’s amazing how many downtown Torontonians actually made their way up to Woodbridge for the Grafic Woman concept store launch! Could be because the Toronto end of the affair was handled by the well-connected fashionista Gail McInnes of Magnet Creative and was hosted by I Want I Got blogger Anita Clarke – and it didn’t hurt that luxury car service was provided from the city!

Glamming up a typical strip plaza at 3883 Rutherford Road (at Hwy 400) in Woodbridge – home of a demographic of stylish shoppers where labels count, Grafic Woman now complements the Grafic stores; Grafic Concept and Grafic Man ... read more