Fashion Stores
Covet + Crave
Covet + Crave recently packed up its premium denim and casualwear and headed north from King Wesr to West Queen West to set up shop with former neighbourhood denizen Brazen Hussy.
I found that owner Kim Roberts' new bare-bones location doesn't have much in the way of decor, but the shop is well-stocked with many different denim brands, including Levi's, Joe, Domino, and J Brand. I spotted: stonewash wide-leg William Rasts ($270), pale grey Hudson skinnies ($225), and tight dark-denim jeans from Fidelity ($175).
Other lines that make their home here include People's Market, Ringspun, House of the Gods, and Dirty Gold, along with the usual Velvet, Dex, and Buddhist Punk stuff.
It's the Canadian men's brands like Philip Sparks, Ultra, and Gsus that stick out, with a great selection of dress shirts and cardigans ($160--$275).
But with such standard casualwear options, it remains to be seen if the store can survive on the highly competitive and rent unfriendly Queen St. After all, there are fancy jeans available at most stores now (and Body Blue is across the street).
One thing that sets the store apart is the Brazen Hussy mini-store situated at the back of Covet + Crave.
Brazen Hussy is a particularly outlandish line that straddles the line between super-sexy and pure bad taste. Some of the pieces are quite lovely, like a black silk romper ($199), a sequined harem pant ($135), a black lace tank-dress ($135), a gold bandage skirt ($179), and the stretchy black jersey number with gold chain draped across an open back ($189).
It's clothes with balls.
Unfortunately, such overt sexuality and flair can sometimes lurch into lingerie-catalogue territory--think teal lace tanktops, gold-studded purple net tutus, PVC-accented minidresses, and canary-yellow sundresses covered in ruffles.
Yet there is a certain fearlessness to the line. If Covet + Crave can up the wow factor of its casualwear to keep up with Brazen Hussy's better pieces, they might have what it takes to make this location work.
Photos by Dennis Marciniak
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Chantal