The United Front - 431 Richmond Street W.

This is possibly my new favourite building in the city of Toronto. I had been there before but yesterday, I got the full experience I had somehow missed on my previous trips. Why is this building so important? It houses not one, but four great stores: Nomad, Goodfoot, Stüssy and Ransom Holding Co..

Nomad carries a ton of brands that have been featured on this blog, including A.P.C. (I think Nomad was the first retail outlet to sell A.P.C. in Toronto), Opening Ceremony and Rag & Bone; and some that hopefully will find a home here in the near future like Nom de Guerre, Comme des Garçons, and one of my favourite designers, Robert Geller. Needless to say, this is a Toronto staple for men who are interested in high-fashion.


Right next store, and a store I've visited on multiple occasions, is Goodfoot. Goodfoot is a Canadian-owned shoe store that stocks the newest kicks from brands like Nike, adidas and New Balance (among others). They have the latest styles, and many limited edition pairs as well. Goodfoot re-stocks very frequently and their staff is very knowledgeable, not to mention really friendly and cool. Last time I was there it was warm outside and everyone was just throwing down kickflips on the street. Also, besides carrying a wide variety of sneakers, Goodfoot also carries some higher-end clothing, like the James Bond for David Beckham x adidas cardigan I saw yesterday, which if I recall correctly, retails for somewhere around $225.


(I couldn't find any pictures of the interior Richmond street location - so you'll have to go check it out for yourselves)

Now, we're moving upstairs. Right above Nomad we have Stüssy, an Orange County, California surfer brand that has since become somewhat of a street staple, adopted by the hip-hop world as one of their own. It was my first time in the store and I was impressed; the shop was heavily stocked with tees, toques, shirts and sweaters and the best part was a good portion of the store was still on sale from their Boxing Day promotions. I picked up a tee and a hoodie - both of which were 40% off. Again, the staff was really friendly and featuring an open concept with bright white walls, it was a very nice space.



Lastly, and the original reason I ventured down to Richmond, was to check out Ransom Holding Co., a Canadian clothing brand that is making huge waves in the fashion world. A few months ago, Ransom hooked up with adidas to create beautiful boots. Sadly, I wasn't able to grab a pair but I haven't given up my quest. Here's the promo video.

Ransom also stocks a wide variety of shirts, pants and tees, and carries not only their own brand, but also Levi's Vintage Collection, Alife, Jack Spade and Mosley Tribes sunglasses (which I desperately want a pair of). The brand's work pants were recently featured as part of Complex blog's "Buy It Now" collection and Drake rocked a pair of the boots in Birdman's 4 My Town (Play Ball) video. This brand is taking off and I'm excited for their future collections.


This building is so impactful on the Toronto scene that it has been featured on countless popular websites and in numerous magazines as well. One can go there and literally be outiftted from head-to-toe in hundreds of styles as each store brings something a little different to the atmosphere of the collective. Plus, because all the stores are in one structure, you can hop between the shops without even having to go outside. I'm very excited to see the summer collections these stores will have in a month or two, so don't be surprised if you run into me one Saturday sometime soon.

Some info provided by Nomad, Goodfoot, Ransom and Stüssy; pictures by the previous four sites, Hypebeast and High Snobiety (and a few Google searches).