Introducing: Ruins, a new men’s store at Queen and Shaw
The place: Impresario turned storekeeper Mikey Apples’ résumé lists several vocations: band manager, wardrobe assistant and vintage picker. So it’s fitting that Ruins, the menswear shop he owns with Josh Reichmann, another music industry veteran, functions as a cultural hub on Queen West. The store displays works by local artists, hosts shows by up-and-coming musicians and stocks obscure fashion tomes.
The owners and their friends did all the renovations, down to the metal window cages, fashioned by publisher, artist and smithy Tony Romano. A gothic archway salvaged from a church outside Toronto leads to Leonard’s—the in-house salon—where clients can go for a straight-razor shave.
The stuff: A deconstructed black wool blazer by Assembly New York ($425) is characteristic of the lean silhouette and rakish, slightly dishevelled look favoured by the store. Pendleton’s plaid and Native American motifs accent a mostly dark colour scheme. The store sells primarily men’s clothing, but there is a small selection that is geared toward women who like more masculine cuts. A curated selection of vintage pieces hangs on the racks, including a women’s blouse in royal blue silk ($35) and a men’s ’50s gabardine jacket ($250).
The shoppers: Williamsburg transplants searching for pieces of Americana, and urban beatniks with Jack Kerouac meets Ian Curtis style.
Our favourite thing: The H by Hudson lace-up grey leather ankle boots ($295). Pieces by British shoemaker Hudson’s “errant younger brother” are made with the same level of craftsmanship as the brogues, but the kicks tend toward younger, edgier styles. All the leather is washed, so the boots have the character of an old denim jacket or a slightly threadbare sofa.
Ruins, 960 Queen St. W., 647-351-0960, ruinstoronto.com.
