Toronto-based jewellery brand STEFF ELEOFF is expanding its presence in Canadian luxury retail through a partnership with Holt Renfrew, bringing experiential pop-ups to the retailer’s Yorkdale and Bloor Street stores this fall.
The first activation will run at Holt Renfrew Yorkdale from October 2 to 29, followed by Holt Renfrew Bloor Street from November 12 to December 12. The installations coincide with the launch of STEFF ELEOFF’s FW26 Body of Water collection and will feature an edited assortment alongside pieces created exclusively for Holt Renfrew.
For founder and designer Steff Eleoff, the partnership brings a largely digital business into a more substantial physical setting in its home market. Despite the company’s Canadian roots, Eleoff told Retail Insider that most of its business now comes from outside Canada.
“We’ve grown so much online, but haven’t had many opportunities for customers to experience STEFF ELEOFF physically,” Eleoff said. “As a Canadian brand with most of our business coming from outside Canada, it felt like the right time to build a stronger presence at home.”
Holt Renfrew offered an established Canadian luxury platform for that next stage, while the two Toronto stores provide access to different customer bases.
Yorkdale and Bloor Offer Different Toronto Markets
Eleoff sees distinct roles for the two locations. Yorkdale provides the scale and traffic of one of Canada’s major shopping centres, while Holt Renfrew’s Bloor Street flagship places the brand within Toronto’s established luxury shopping district.
“Yorkdale has incredible scale and energy, while Bloor sits at the heart of luxury and fashion in the city,” Eleoff said.
Operating at both stores will also allow the company to see how different customers interact with the brand in person, providing information that is more difficult to capture through a predominantly digital business.
The Holt Renfrew partnership follows earlier experiments with offline retail and brand experiences. STEFF ELEOFF has previously staged pop-ups during Paris and London Fashion Weeks, and its products have been carried internationally, including at Kith Tokyo. The company has also experimented with experiential concepts in Toronto, including a STEFF ELEOFF Café activation.
A Preview of What a STEFF ELEOFF Store Could Become
Eleoff describes the Holt Renfrew installations as an interpretation of what a future STEFF ELEOFF store could eventually feel like, although the company has not announced plans for a permanent location.
The environment combines metal with natural elements and is intended to create a calmer setting than a conventional multi-brand retail space.
“We wanted it to feel almost zen, where you can slow down, experience the jewellery and step into our world for a moment,” Eleoff said.
That approach reflects how the company develops its collections beyond the individual pieces. Eleoff said imagery, film, art direction and storytelling are used to create a broader visual world around each collection, with the Holt Renfrew installation allowing that work to take physical form.
The format also addresses some of the limitations of selling jewellery online. Customers can handle pieces, feel their weight and try different shapes while encountering the product within the environment envisioned by the designer.
“Digital will always be a huge part of our business, but physical retail gives customers something online can’t,” Eleoff said. “I see physical experiences becoming an important part of how we enter and grow in key markets in the brand’s future.”
From Toronto Start-Up to an International Customer Base
Eleoff launched her namesake brand in Toronto in 2020. The company grew initially through digital channels, attracting fashion-industry attention and subsequently reaching customers outside Canada.
Early exposure included coverage from Vogue France, while international distribution and collaborations broadened the company’s audience. Eleoff was also recognized at the Canadian Arts & Fashion Awards in 2024, winning the Emerging Talent, Accessories award.
How consumers discover the brand has changed considerably as the business has expanded. Eleoff said customers now arrive through TikTok and Instagram, celebrity exposure, retailers and the company’s growing business producing covers for wearable technology.
“Our customer wants something they haven’t seen everywhere else,” she said. “The entry points have multiplied, but what ultimately brings them into the brand is still the design and the product itself.”
That range of discovery channels has allowed STEFF ELEOFF to develop an audience without relying solely on traditional jewellery retail distribution.
Collaborations Bring STEFF ELEOFF to New Audiences
Projects involving Kylie Cosmetics and Porsche have also introduced the company to consumers outside conventional jewellery channels.
The Porsche collaboration extended STEFF ELEOFF’s design language into a much larger format. For Porsche SCOPES Toronto, the company translated the aesthetic of its Sedona ring into an installation and art car, providing an earlier example of Eleoff taking a design developed for jewellery and applying it to a physical environment.
“Porsche allowed us to explore our design language through a much larger-scale installation, while Kylie Cosmetics brought the brand into a different cultural and beauty space,” Eleoff said.
Those projects served both creative and customer-acquisition purposes for the company, putting the brand in front of audiences that may not otherwise have encountered its jewellery.
Wearable Technology Develops into a Significant Business
One of STEFF ELEOFF’s more unusual growth categories sits at the intersection of jewellery and wearable technology. The company designs sculptural jewellery covers that fit over smart rings, changing the appearance of a functional wearable device. The concept gives consumers a way to incorporate increasingly common wearable technology into a more traditional jewellery wardrobe.
What began as another product category has become an important source of business and customer discovery.
“Tech ring covers have become a significant part of our business and introduced an entirely new audience to STEFF ELEOFF,” Eleoff said.
She views the products as an extension of the company’s jewellery rather than a separate technology business. The same sculptural design approach is applied to the covers, while the category has introduced customers searching for wearable accessories to STEFF ELEOFF’s broader assortment.
Exclusive Product for Holt Renfrew
The Holt Renfrew pop-ups will not simply reproduce the assortment available through STEFF ELEOFF’s website. The company has developed pieces specifically for the retailer alongside an edit of its broader collection.
“We wanted customers to have a reason to experience STEFF ELEOFF at Holt Renfrew rather than simply recreating our website in a store,” Eleoff said.
The exclusives include colour and design variations connected with what Eleoff describes as the company’s 2026 “gem hunt journey,” with those pieces available only through Holt Renfrew.
The approach gives Holt Renfrew differentiated product while allowing STEFF ELEOFF to present a curated version of the brand to customers encountering it through the retailer.
International Markets Remain a Focus
While the Holt Renfrew partnership strengthens STEFF ELEOFF’s presence in Canada, international markets remain central to its growth plans.
“We want to continue bringing STEFF ELEOFF into the markets where our customers already are,” Eleoff said. “International markets are a big focus for us, as we want to give people the brand experience.”
The company has not identified specific markets for future physical locations or announced plans for a permanent standalone store. Eleoff’s comments point to a strategy in which in-person experiences could increasingly accompany digital growth as the company enters or develops key markets.
The Holt Renfrew installations provide an early look at how a more permanent STEFF ELEOFF environment might eventually take shape.
“At the heart of it all, I want every physical expansion to feel intentional and distinctly STEFF ELEOFF.”
