The Best Menswear Shops in Montréal
Tate & Yoko
9096 Boulevard St-Laurent; tateandyoko.com
Located in an industrial area off the highway, this shop isn’t close to anything, but denim-heads from around the world make the trip here anyway. The reasons for this are twofold: denim nerds will go anywhere to find the newest, latest, rarest, craziest jeans, and Tate & Yoko has stuff you can’t find anywhere else in Canada. Decorated with owner Brandon Svarc’s collection of vintage Japanese movie posters and 1950s toy robots, everything here is made in Japan, the USA or Canada. Naked & Famous, our nation’s greatest contribution to denim since the Canadian tuxedo, owns and operates the shop, stocking the brand’s full line of Canadian-made Japanese selvedge jeans (some 60+ varieties in multiple fits), plus Japanese cotton shirts, corduroy Sherpa jackets and sturdy raw leather belts. Rounding out the selection are hard-to-find Japanese workwear from Burgus Plus and silk souvenir jackets by The Flat-Head.
L’Archive
4411 Notre-Dame West; vintageframescompany.com
Run DMC, Yves Saint-Laurent, Sally Jessy Raphael. What do all these people have in common? For the answer, step into the wood-panelled library that serves as a storefront to this emporium of classic vintage eyewear. Located in the hip St. Henri neighbourhood near the scenic Lachine Canal, this shop draws visitors from all corners with its unparalleled selection of deadstock Cazals, Persols, Carreras and Cartiers; many still bearing the original packaging and tags. With thousands of frames and “new” stock constantly arriving from around the world, you’ll never find a better excuse to embrace your inner Iris Apfel or Andy Warhol.
SSENSE
90 Saint-Paul St West; ssense.com
There are two types of people in this world, and they can be easily separated by the Rick Owens pink lizard skin high-top sneakers, priced at $4,930, on sale at SSENSE. If you’re the type of person for whom both the shoes and the price seem utterly ridiculous, don’t visit this store. If you’re the other sort, you could probably spend all day browsing its racks of Givenchy graphic t-shirts, boxy Lemaire overcoats and shiny Moncler Gamme Bleu down jackets, and will definitely find something here you can’t live without. Located amid the quaint tourist traps and horse-drawn carriages in Old Montréal, this storefront carries a curated selection of the Canadian e-tailer’s wares (although rumour has it a larger store is in the works). A must-visit for fans of avant-garde streetwear.
Clark St. Mercantile
5200 Clark St; clarkstreetmercantile.com
You might know Mile-End as the home of Fairmount’s tantalizing bagels and Wilensky’s famous salami sandwich counter, but it’s also a destination for an increasing number of shops selling clothes and funky accessories. With its wide array of niche brands and selection of apparel, books and grooming products, Clark St. Mercantile holds down the menswear side of the spectrum with aplomb. The aesthetic of the store is specific to a certain kind of man (think heritage workwear and retro sneakers) but within that range, it has plenty to offer. A recent visit turned up PF Flyers trainers, D.S. & Durga fragrances and sturdy Portuguese fisherman’s sweaters by La Paz, as well as plenty from Canadian indie brands like Bather and 18 Waits.
Off The Hook
421 rue Saint-Vincent; offthehook.ca
Anyone in Montréal looking to cop some fresh new Stone Island gear or the latest Adidas collab knows to head straight to this destination for all things streetwear. Thanks to its newest location in Old Montréal’s stylish Hotel William Grey, Off The Hook now has the opportunity to reach a lot more out-of-towners. The new location is clearly geared towards the Montréal visitor, with an impressive selection of hard-sided suitcases from Herschel Supply, puffy parkas (all the better to face the Québec winter) from Arc’Teryx, Marvis toothpaste and Montréal-themed graphic tees. Anyone in search of gifts for the hard-to-buy-for will find inspiration in their selection of Casio old-school digital watches, Star Wars socks and colourful Caran d’Ache pens.
