Our Neighbourhood, the Garment District

Inspiration

Our Neighbourhood, the Garment District

The Garment District has been our home for 12 years now, since moving to 35 Camden St. in 2005. Located between Bathurst Street & Spadina Avenue and Queen & King Streets, it’s a vibrant neighbourhood with a rich history and a lively future.

In the early 20th century, much of the area was devoted to the garment industry. Many of the larger buildings—the tall art deco buildings and the smaller warehouses that define the area’s architectural character—were built for garment manufacturing at the time. The neighbourhood was also home to a large Jewish community, which comprised many of the garment labourers. After World War II, however, the industry gradually disintegrated; its buildings began to be converted for other uses and the Jewish community moved northward.

Though the garment industry is no longer a significant force in Toronto, there are still many textile businesses in the neighbourhood that descend from its past, making the Garment District still the destination for the eponymous commodity. It’s also an area of incredible growth; apart from the numerous developments that have been constructed recently, there are currently seven in progress and ten more at the proposal stage, with the local population increasing accordingly.

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