Celeb-approved Toronto womenswear brand just opened its first shop in Rosedale, Canada Reviews

Local womenswear brand T.Line, born of a mission to create the perfect women’s shirts, has opened its first brick-and-mortar retail experience on the second floor of a popular Rosedale shop.

The partnership with Vert, a contemporary multi-brand shop selling first to market brands in Canada, only recently came to be, but T.Line founders Britt Barkwell and Alia Bissett say it’s the perfect place to launch their first shop experience. 

“It’s amazing to partner with Vert on this because they’re such an incredible store, and they have amazing relationships with their customers so it feels very symbiotic,” says Bissett.

Both founders live in the neighbourhood and note that a lot of their community already wears and supports T.Line, so they’re excited to bring that in-person brand experience to them. “We always said, if we were ever to open a store, it would be on Yonge between Rosedale station and Summerhill station,” says Bissett. “It’s exactly where we want to be located for this first step.” 

Having grown up in Winnipeg together, Barkwell and Bissett got their retail fashion start out west, and spent several years working together at Holt Renfrew — Barkwell as a creative and marketing lead and Bissett as director of strategy. Feeling there was a lack of options for classic shirts for women in the market, they put their heads together and embarked on a mutual mission to create the perfect shirt. 

“Throughout our working lives, both of us were avid shirt wearers,” says Barkwell. “We wore shirts on rotation in our wardrobes all the time and we really felt the market was missing that perfect womenswear shirt — one inspired by menswear shirts, but with really elevated quality and thoughtful details.” 

They landed on the concept for T.Line and launched directly to consumers in March of 2022. In response to growing demand, they began to pursue retail expansion in the fall of 2023, with select retail partners in Canada including TNT and Andrews in Toronto. They even collaborated with Holt Renfrew to host pop-ups in Edmonton and Calgary this past year. 

“It was an amazing full circle experience going back to the store. A lot of the people that we worked with and keep in touch with, are still there,” says Barkwell.

“Holts was such a great jumping off point for the both of us,” adds Bissett. “The customers really responded to it, and the staff really responded to it, which was nice. It’s also nice to see that we have moved on within the industry, but in our own way.”  

The response to T.Line’s Canadian retail expansion proved so successful that they have since partnered with 26 retailers in the U.S. as well, and are planning imminent holiday pop-ups with popular wellness brand Goop, in California. 

Back in Toronto, Bissett says the Vert partnership is really just a natural extension of their retail growth strategy; one that allows them to show the entire assortment of the T.Line collection in person. 

Though the T.Line product line has expanded to include complimentary pieces like jackets and bottoms, their shirt design remains the epitome of the brand. 

“The shirt is an iconic piece of clothing that really stands the test of time,” says Barkwell. “From Princess Diana, to Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, everyone wears shirts, and if you look at those images now, they’re still just as relevant.”  

“Over and over again, our shirting is by far our best seller. So it’s just been really nice to see that the gap that we thought we could fill is proving out,” she adds.

To bring the T.Line ethos to life in physical form, the women partnered with Toronto interior design firm Kessler Levitan Design to create a space that Barkwell compares to a French apartment. Featuring plenty of natural light and thoughtful details like herringbone floors, crown moulding, panelled walls and a brick fireplace, the atmosphere is both minimalist and chic.

Floating hanging racks allow the clothes to take centre stage, and a wall display features all of T.Line’s core shirting silhouettes, each identified by a brass plaque. 

“The customer can really see the different blueprints of our shirts — which are all displayed in white. You can see the different styles, the different lengths and the different cuffs. And you know it’s not just a shirt, because there’s so many different varieties,” says Barkwell.

They also opted to reupholster a pair of lounge chairs with their signature shirt fabric so customers can experience how comfy it is. “It’s a really nice way to tie our shirting-first philosophy into the space,” explains Bissett.

While customers can now book private shopping appointments at the shop, Barkwell and Bissett also intend to open the space up for events. “We’re excited to bring everyone together. We have a bunch of ideas about how we can make this a great space for our community,” says Bissett. 

T.Line is located the second floor of Vert at 1062 Yonge St.