Italian luxury brand Versace has unveiled its newest boutique at Toronto’s Yorkdale Shopping Centre, marking an expansion and relocation within one of Canada’s most prominent luxury shopping destinations.
Situated in Yorkdale’s newly developed luxury wing, the 3,783 square foot store aims to elevate the brand’s presence by offering an immersive and high-end shopping experience that reflects its iconic aesthetic. Versace moved from another location in the mall where it had operated for about a decade.
A Design Masterpiece: Inside the New Yorkdale Versace Boutique
The boutique is designed as a journey through multiple rooms, each highlighting a different aspect of Versace’s offerings. Men’s and women’s ready-to-wear collections are housed in their respective rooms, providing a curated and intimate environment. Meanwhile, a dedicated women’s footwear room allows customers to explore Versace’s chic and bold shoe collections, including a range of sneakers, in a gallery-like setting that emphasizes luxury craftsmanship.
The interior features light pink and white tiles arranged in a geometric pattern, enhancing the sense of modern sophistication while echoing Versace’s penchant for bold and playful design elements. The carefully arranged displays, plush seating areas, and bespoke lighting add to the boutique’s exclusive atmosphere.
Yorkdale’s Role as a Luxury Shopping Destination
Yorkdale Shopping Centre’s new luxury wing is part of an effort to solidify the mall as a leading destination for high-end retail, featuring 65,000-square-feet of space that accommodates a range of renowned luxury brands. Other brands in the wing include recently opened locations for Loewe, Jimmy Choo, Brunello Cucinelli, and Loro Piana, with other high-end names such as Rimowa on the way.
The opening of the new Yorkdale boutique follows the closure of Versace’s flagship location on Yorkville Avenue last month. Opened in 2019, the Yorkville store was a standout with its two-level layout and design by Gwenael Nicolas. Its closure, however, was part of a plan to expand an adjacent retailer into the space.
Expansion Beyond Toronto: Upcoming Stores in Montreal and Vancouver
Versace’s Canadian expansion is continuing under the direction of parent company Capri Holdings. That includes its first standalone boutique in Montreal, opening at the new Royalmount development this month.
Additionally, in 2025, Versace will open a boutique at Oakridge Park in Vancouver, further cementing its West Coast presence. Versace operated a standalone store in downtown Vancouver from 2015 until 2020 — the space on Thurlow Street is now occupied by Thom Browne. A Versace boutique also operated inside luxury multi brand retailer Leone from 1987 until its closure in 2020.
In Canada, Versace also operates outlet stores at the Toronto Premium Outlets near Toronto, and at the McArthurGlen outlets near Vancouver.
David Wedemire and Stan Vyriotes of DWSV Realty represented Versace in the transaction with the mall’s landlord Oxford Properties. DWSV negotiated Versace’s other leases as well, and also negotiated serval other details for the luxury wing including a recently opened Jimmy Choo store.
Gianni Versace S.p.A. is one of the leading global fashion design houses. Under the Artistic Direction of Donatella Versace since 1997, the brand designs, manufactures and distributes fashion and lifestyle products including haute couture, women’s and men’s ready-to-wear, jewelry, watches, accessories, fragrances and home collection. The brand was founded by the late Gianni Versace in 1978.
Gianni Versace S.r.l. is part of Capri Holdings Ltd. global fashion luxury group, formerly Michael Kors Ltd., which also owns UK luxury footwear brand Jimmy Choo. Capri Holdings (then ‘Michael Kors’) acquired Versace for US $2.12 billion in September of 2018.
