Toronto Star.com // Stealing back the sense of self at Thieves boutique
Find your sense of "self" at WQW's
Thieves
"...She had us with the name of the store — Thieves..."
"...It is not a den of pickpockets. It is street fashion with a twist: an environmentally-conscious, in-house designer studio for men and women at 1156 Queen St. W...."
",...“Thieves is all about stealing back the sense of self from society’s deep sleep,” explains owner Sonja den Elzen, pausing from cutting out a garment. “Stores sell the same stuff and it is marketed the same. This is all about interesting pieces that resonate with you.”..."
"...Den Elzen, a native of London, Ont.,
grew up in Orangeville and moved to Toronto 16 years ago.
She started designing in ’96 after
taking interior design courses and studying aviation flight technology
at Seneca College.“Everyone said there was no money in
fashion and I wanted to be a pilot. I always loved clothes and I liked
to experiment,” she recalls, conceding that her nascent fashion
sensibilities were probably a tad “weird” for Orangeville...."
"...“I’d cross the line and change four
or five times a day. I’d mix styles: punk; preppie. I wore army pants 20
sizes too big, toughed them up with safety pins and then pair them with
penny loafers.”
Den Elzen opened Thieves two years
ago in this West Queen West location.“It is amongst art galleries and no
other clothing boutique was designed for the mind set of gallery
people,” she explains...."
"...Her demographic is men and women between the ages of 30 and 65. “I have doctors, artists, architects — people in creative fields or people who appreciate creative fields.”..."
"...In addition to her own eponymous Thieves line, she carries local designers such as Heidi Ackerman, another sustainable and fashion-forward label; Heartfelt (we heart their oversized white boyfriend shirt priced at $195); and Zuzanium, whose no-brainer LBD’s in bamboo jersey go for $120..."
"Thieves stocks inventive and edgy
jewellery lines including Henny B. and Michelle Tilley.Henny’s necklace includes vintage
beads, keys, stones, feathers and crocheting — all that for $235.Tilley’s homage to Alexander McQueen
assembled from distressed wood and coconut mixed with chain and wire is
$360.Ninety per cent of the stock is den
Elzen’s designs. She uses soy, bamboo and Tencel, a biodegradable fabric
made from wood pulp cellulose.
She’ll take a basic trench, cut it in
linen with sheer organic cotton and make the back asymmetrical...."
“Asymmetrical is really flattering to
the human body,” she says. “We are asymmetrical.”She can’t keep her 5-dresses-in-one
$164 maxi dress in stock.“It’s actually more than five
dresses,” she says.
“I give a lesson (in draping) before it goes out the
door.”She makes men’s shirts, pants,
trenches, suits and jumpsuits...."
"...How did she ever learn to make a man’s suit? Surely not in aviation school — an aviation jacket maybe.“I went to Ryerson book store and got all the books the students got and taught myself to pattern draft.”Foot Note: Store Gazing coveted den Elzen’s beige sandals —very tribal, with what looked like raffia around the ankles. She got them at Chasse Gardée, at 1084 Queen St. W., a block or so east of her shop...."
"...Ironically, when we checked out Fawn, another cool West Queen West boutique, we lusted after the studded booties worn by owner Kasha Bilobram and they were also from Chasse Gardée.
So in the cause of investigative journalism, we had to go there to interview the sandals.
The good news: the shoes are on sale.
The bad news: they are a size too small.
If you wear a size 8, they are all yours...."