West Queen West Shops

Type Books is an adorable independent bookstore stocking titles across every category—from fiction and small-press works to art, design, and young adult. Parents and caregivers take note: There’s a wonderful section for littles out the back with kid-size mushroom-shaped stools to perch on while looking at shelves stacked with picture books and puzzles. The owners have successfully turned their business into a real community hub and regularly host evening talks with authors, giving locals the chance to engage with the literature and with one another.

Soop Soop was born out of the owner's frustration at not being able to find the publications he was looking for in Toronto. Aside from stocking an incredible selection of over eighty international magazines and art-house publications—including Tank, Love, i-D, and Self Service—Soop Soop has also expanded its offerings to include low- to high-end streetwear, bags, and hats.

Horses Atelier was founded in 2012 by two best friends, Claudia Dey and Heidi Sopinka, who wanted to make clothes that were beautiful, utilitarian, and durable—the kind of trusted pieces that serve the backbone of your wardrobe, again and again. Sustainability is paramount to both founders, and everything is made with natural fabrics sourced from family-owned mills in Italy and Japan and sewn a mile from their Toronto studio. The pieces themselves are impossible not to love—soft turtlenecks, cool utilitarian jumpsuits in block colors, pretty silk dresses in loose shapes, and cocoon-shaped outerwear in the softest wool.