Right in the heart of the Fashion District on Queen West, nestled in between vintage shops and fabric and bead stores, is an elegant white brick storefront called Absolutely Fabrics. Since opening in 2023, the clothing boutique has carved out a singular identity in the city’s fashion scene, offering Toronto’s most stylish a way to shop up-and-coming and hard-to-find designers in person alongside trending brands and vintage pieces. And this fall, founder Kaelen Haworth is bringing the ultra-fashionable concept to Summerhill.
“A lot of our clients who came downtown actually live in the Rosedale area,” Haworth shares.
She says Absolutely Fabrics already does a lot of consignment, physically taking in-store product to those who can’t make it downtown.
“So we just thought it would be easier and more efficient if we had a location here and people could just pop in.”
Although the Summerhill-Rosedale area has been establishing itself as a shopping and nightlife destination as of late, the upcoming launch of Absolutely Fabrics signals a shift for the area: it’s cementing itself as a true fashion district in the city.
Absolutely Fabrics houses established designers such as Marni and Simone Rocha alongside emerging and independent brands such as mesh-forward line Diotima and Korean label Recto — many of which Canadian shoppers would struggle to find elsewhere online, let alone in the city. Vintage selections range from a head-to-toe zippered leather, cobalt blue dress, by Michael Hoban, circa the ’80s ($1,995), to tweed Chanel jackets ($7,895) and a Prada brocade dress ($995).
Haworth is aware people might view bringing in more experimental designers as a risk.
“But it’s also the reason that I think people really love to come into the store — because it is such a place of discovery,” she says. “You can find things that not everyone has. A lot of people don’t want to be out in their neighborhood wearing the same thing as everybody else.”
And the way the team positions the brands in-store is all part of the discovery process: new brands are hung next to big ones on the same rack. “It gives people an indication of, ‘OK, this is the same world. I know what I’m doing.’”
The new store at 1091 Yonge St. is taking over the space formerly occupied by Sleep Country and Running Room, and at 7,000 square feet, it will be significantly larger than Absolutely Fabrics’ Queen Street store. Haworth is taking that as an opportunity to create more of an in-store experience.
“We’re trying to create a space where people can come in and hang out, even if you’re not actively shopping,” she says.
The Queen Street location already plays host to many events, something which Haworth intends to carry into Summerhill: “We want to do more community engagement in uptown, so we’re thinking about that as we renovate the space.”
There are plans to build a conversation pit, a central table for events and the ability to transform all areas in the store — as the old fashion adage goes — “from day to night.” And, for the first time, Absolutely Fabrics will be expanding into menswear.
Haworth notes that, clients aside, the neighbourhood itself was a big selling point for the new store — pointing to Seahorse, Manita and the upcoming Mamakas and Nutbar as examples.
“There’s a lot that would attract people to that area anyway.”
