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MODEL CITIZEN 279 August,416-703-7625
After five pioneering years on Dundas West, Julian Finkel has reinvented Model Citizen in Kensington Market. His and partner Georgia Groom’s trailblazing idea to sell Toronto shoppers on the merits of made-in-Canada fashion is going strong, with a fresh batch of local labels ready to make new waves.
Finkel shares the shop’s studio space with Burnt Offering’s Mark Chilton and Legin Knits’ Nigel John. John’s dread caps and baseball hats are well known, but after an apprenticeship with silkscreen mentor Finkel, he’s added sweatshirts printed with red, yellow and green lion’s heads to his collection.
Labels carried over from the store’s Trinity Bellwoods digs include Passenger Pigeon, Katya Revenko, Philip Sparks, Kristen Bond and Joy Apparel, plus accessories by Gillian Rode, Clothes Horse and Shannon Hazel. Model Citizen shirts screened with wolf or cassette tape graphics still take centre stage in the middle of the store.
Model Citizen picks: Montreal’s Paul Graham creates hooded crossover cardigans from black, grey and blue jersey, $110; CeCe Scriver over-dyes vintage silk scarves with colourful blots, $35; Véronique Miljkovitch’s wrap dresses are airbrushed with light graffiti streaks, $156.
Look for: Finkel will be teaching his silkscreen 101 classes in the studio at the back of the shop and is still on the hunt for other designers to round out his growing Model Citizen collective.
Hours: Monday to Sunday 11 am to 6 pm, with late-night shopping on the weekend planned for late spring and summer.