Toronto boutiques: 12 designer shops and what each one buys

In 2019, VSP Consignment put more than 800 pieces from the wardrobe of Schitt's Creek online. They sold out within a day. That is the pull of a shop with a point of view.

Go Wednesday to Saturday, after 12:30. It is the one window when all 11 shops here that print their hours are open. Several keep short ones: Ewanika opens four days a week, and Coal Miner's Daughter may close for a break around 2:30.

Quick facts

• Shops in this guide: 12, from Yorkville to Parkdale
• The window: Wednesday to Saturday, 12:30 to 6pm, when all 11 that print hours are open
• Where they stand: 5 of the 12 on Queen Street West, 3 in Yorkville, the rest on Ossington, Dundas West, Spadina and Bathurst
• Trading since: Andrews 1990, Uncle Otis 1991, TNT 1994, Coal Miner's Daughter 2009
• Paper for a resale: a VSP certificate of authenticity costs $75, or $200 for Hermès
• On within: 43 women's dresses and 1,163 pre owned designer pieces on the Toronto shelves, read 27 September 2026

For the big labels, new or second hand

Andrews opened in Hazelton Lanes in 1990, and it is still there now that the mall is Yorkville Village. Find it at 55 Avenue Road, under arched windows by the Hazelton Avenue door. Dogs are welcome, and the manager, Suzanne, keeps treats on hand.

The new arrivals lean on wax. Barbour's Mary jacket is $665 and the Checked Kirklees is $775, and a Cinzia Rocca alpaca coat is $1,345.

TNT is a family: Arie Assaraf and Carrie Richmond with their children, Aidan and Jade, who started on Eglinton Avenue West in 1994. The Yorkville flagship opened in 2024, 20,000 square feet upstairs at 87 Avenue Road. Its newest arrivals run from an $85 Patrick Assaraf tee to a $4,695 Antonio Marras midi dress, with a Y's coat at $2,340 in between.

119 Corbò, at 119 Yorkville Avenue, has been a mother and daughter's shop since 2006. Linda Perisa and Gianna Ritacca describe the buy as "rooted in Belgian designers from the 90s." It keeps Yorkville hours, 11 to 6 from Monday to Saturday.

VSP Consignment is where the big names go second hand, at 1410 Dundas Street West. Dianne Rawlinson founded Vespucci in Calgary in 1986, Britt Rawlinson opened VSP in Toronto in 2013, and the business is still family run.

Every piece is checked before it is sold: materials, construction, hardware, labels, serial codes. Eligible handbags also go through Entrupy. A certificate is $75, or $200 for Hermès (you pay for it to keep a record and to help the resale, since the piece is guaranteed either way).

For women's clothes one owner chose

Ewanika belongs to a pattern cutter. Trish Ewanika grew up in Winnipeg, studied clothing and textiles at the University of Manitoba, then cut patterns in Toronto. Her own women's line now shares 1072 Bathurst Street with A.Emery and Labo.Art, Wednesday through Saturday, noon to 6.

Gaspard, at 886 Queen Street West, opened in 2011. Before that, Jennifer and Richard spent years designing their own line, Mercy, and the hunt for its fabric led them to the designers they carry now. Expect handwoven cloth and original screen prints.

FAWN, at 967 Queen Street West, has bought from independent designers around the world since 2007. In its own words, each piece is chosen for wearability, fabric and quality made to last. It opens Tuesday to Saturday only.

Coal Miner's Daughter began in July 2009 as a 160 square foot shop in the front room of Gallery Gabor, in Mirvish Village, at $800 a month. The name is family history. Krysten Caddy's great grandmother Rosilla was a coal miner's daughter who worked at the Dominion Dress Company in Brantford in the 1930s.

The Queen West shop, at 744, aims for at least 80% Canadian designers, Eve Gravel and Birds of North America among them. Some of the jewellery is Krysten's own, in sterling silver and gemstone.

A boutique is one person's taste, open Wednesday to Saturday.

For menswear and shoes with a maker behind them

Lost & Found, at 12 Ossington Avenue, was meant to be a coffee shop. In late 2010 two childhood friends, sharing a place at the time, opened a clothing store instead.

The shoes run to J.M. Weston and Paraboot, the clothes to Auralee, Beams Plus and Engineered Garments.

Uncle Otis has sold menswear since 1991, from 329 Spadina Avenue, noon to 6 every day. The edit is orSlow, Porter Japan and Red Wing Heritage.

The boots on its home page are Yuketen's Canadian Work Boots II. They are hand made in Italy.

Klaxon Howl, at 1473-B Queen Street West in Parkdale, sells its own line beside vintage. The line is made locally, and the shop's promise is garments that last a lifetime. It opens at 12:30 from Wednesday to Saturday, and Monday and Tuesday by appointment.

gravitypope started in Edmonton in 1990 and came to 1010 Queen Street West in November 2012. Two floors, more than 4,000 square feet, and a 1930s brass and glass staircase from a Buenos Aires theatre. Look up on the way down.

Trippen is the reason to go. The Zori Zigzag sandal is $265, made in Germany, its leather piping curved to hug the foot in an S shape.

One day, in the right order

Start in Yorkville at 10am, when Andrews and TNT open, and reach 119 Corbò after 11. VSP also opens at 10, out on Dundas West.

After 12:30, take Queen Street West, where five of the 12 stand, then Lost & Found on Ossington Avenue. Get to Coal Miner's Daughter before 2:30 or after 3.

At VSP, ask for the certificate before you pay if you plan to sell the piece on. The Ossington shops guide covers the street past Lost & Found. Good boutiques turn up wherever one person decided to sell what they believed in, and any city rewards the walk between them.

Common questions

Where are the best boutiques in Toronto?

The boutiques worth the trip sit in four clusters: Yorkville, Queen Street West, Ossington with Dundas West, and Spadina with Bathurst. Yorkville has Andrews, TNT and 119 Corbò; Queen Street West has Coal Miner's Daughter, Gaspard, FAWN, gravitypope and Klaxon Howl.

Lost & Found and VSP Consignment hold the Ossington and Dundas end, with Uncle Otis and Ewanika further east. The Yorkville stores note walks that district shop by shop.

What is the best street to shop on in Toronto?

Queen Street West, by the count: of 254 Toronto shops with checked addresses, 34 stand on it, against 23 on Dundas Street West and 18 on Bloor Street West. Five of the 12 boutiques above are there. The Queen Street West note sorts it by what you came for.

What are some good dress shops in Toronto?

For dresses one owner chose, try Coal Miner's Daughter, Gaspard, FAWN and Ewanika; for runway labels, TNT, where an Antonio Marras midi dress is $4,695. Coal Miner's Daughter aims for at least 80% Canadian designers. Another 43 dresses hang on the Toronto dress shelf, all at one Yorkville boutique.

Every business above is independent, was verified open as of August 2026, and nobody paid to be here. If one has closed or moved, tell us at hello@shopwithin.co and we will fix it.

within is open, with boutiques in Toronto and the cities in this journal to follow.