Hot Topic turns teenage angst into clothing

Most parents won’t have heard of Hot Topic, that is, unless they went through a heavy-black-eyeliner phase in the late ‘90s. The American clothing chain, which catered to teens who took up Wicca after watching The Craft, opened its first two Canadian stores today—on Friday the 13th, of course—one at Scarborough Town Centre and the other at Square One Shopping Cente. A third store is set to open at Maple View Shopping Centre in October.

Like Bluenotes run by high school goths and ravers, Hot Topic was previously the go-to place for massively baggy pants with chains and buckles, straitjacket coats and whatever this is but now focuses more on officially licensed pop culture clothing from franchises like True Blood, Twilight and Hello Kitty. (The company launched Perez Hilton’s ill-fated clothing line two years ago.) On the bright side, they’re also selling Scott Pilgrim vs. the World merch (shameless plug: play our Scott Pilgrim drinking game). Disturbed is set to play at the Scarborough Town Centre store on Aug. 25—hopefully it’ll turn out better than Hilton’s in-store appearance in Tinsel Town.