Featuring womenswear made exclusively in Italy, Rinascimento recently opened its doors in two GTA locations — the Promenade and Sherway Gardens — on May 1. The new shop specializes in fast fashion (“rinascimento” is an Italian term that translates to “rebirth”), which means it surveys the current trends in the fashion market, then creates clothes and gets them to the buyer as quickly as possible.
On one side of the coin, this means the clothing within the store is always current and on-trend. Fast fashion also tempts customers to frequently return to a store as there may be new clothes on the rack that were unavailable two or three weeks ago. However, on the flip side, this makes the clothing fall under the “buyer beware” category, because expediency is the priority.
As a result, Rinascimento is a store for the knowledgeable fashion consumer. The store’s collections provide customers with up-to-date trends, but it’s up to the consumer to ensure that the fit and functionality of the clothes work to their benefit. And though the fast fashion pieces are from Rinascimento’s own line, customers will find other labels such as Gil Santucci, Imperial and Northland on the racks, all labels that keep in line with Rinascimento’s high-end European styling.
Rinascimento’s selections range from trendy T-shirts with floral prints to business wear to formal dresses, along with a few pieces that can be used to transition from afternoon brunches to evening cocktails. On one rack hangs a flowing Rinascimento dress (currently on sale for $99) with silk lining and a polyester front in three colours: blue, black and coral. In the formal section hangs a polyester black-and-white dress complete with a chain belt (also on sale for $99), perfect for the woman searching for that Audrey-Hepburn-in-Rome look.
Accessories and handbags are also available. Earrings, jewelled bracelets and necklaces hang on the front table, and on the back shelf are a black suede purse ($189), a leather tangerine handbag with gold accents ($225) and a beige leather purse with laser-cut details along the top ($259), among others. There are also numerous shoes to match your outfit, from ankle-cut leather boots with metallic accents to leather knee-high boots to your average heels and pumps.
If you consider yourself a vanguard fashionista, one of the two new Rinascimento locations could be up your alley. You might not leave the store with a handful of shopping bags, but at the very least, you’ll leave with knowledge of what’s new and exciting in the fashion world.
Rinascimento at the Promenade, 1 Promenade Circle, Thornhill, 905-764-0020
