Introducing: Frye’s pop-up shop
The place: The latest in the city’s string of pop-up shops is Frye, which has taken up residence inside Ron White’s swanky Bloor Street store. It has the biggest selection of the brand’s boots, shoes and bags in the country. Frye was founded in 1863 and is the oldest continuously operating shoe company in the United States. Its boots were worn by soldiers during the Civil War, and Teddy Roosevelt and now by
Barack Obama.
The stuff: The calf hair shoes and boots ($400 and up) picks up on two of this season’s biggest trends: animal print and fur, which design director Michael Petry says was a coincidence. “We sort of did them for selfish reasons. When I walked through the showroom in Manhattan, I felt like we needed some texture. It just happened to work out the designers were also showing fur and animal prints.” Men’s brogues, boots and gym bags ($498) give guys something to look at while women try on ass-kicking motorcycle boots.
The shoppers: Apparently, they’re TV personalities. At the launch, we saw Jian Ghomeshi eying a pair of studded boots ($448), Tanya Kim leaving with an enormous Ron White bag, and Canada AM host Seamus O’Reagan lingering over a pair of brogues. Winter warriors will appreciate welted seams that make the shoes almost waterproof.
Our favourite things: Grey cowboy boots adorned with miniature discs, a design Petry dreamed up while walking through their factory in Spain and noticed a pile of crushed studs, which he thought would work perfectly on the boots. Our favourite is the knee-high pair ($1,398).
Frye at Ron White. Until October 24. 55 Bloor St. W., Manulife Centre, 416-964-6400.
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