The Perfect Grind

WHEN THE ICONIC L.A.-based streetwear retailer Stüssy relaunched in Toronto’s Chinatown last April, the occasion was marked with limited-edition T-shirts designed by three locals with street cred—steel artist Kwest, Sneeze magazine editor Avi Gold and skate clothier Clubgear—and one coffee entrepreneur, Sam James. No surprise there: James’ eponymous Coffee Bar fronts not only the Stüssy shirt but also its new location at 241 Spadina Avenue. The shared spot, in an Allied Properties REIT–owned 1910 Edwardian building, was a joint design between James and Willo Perron, an L.A.-based multimedia creative director best known for his minimal architectural work for clients like Jay-Z, Drake and Rihanna. “We sourced the location together and discussed the design for months,” says James, whose coffee shop mini-empire now includes five locations in the city. “It was really a collaboration between brands.”

Both spaces are the epitome of industrial chic, with polished construction materials that create a raw yet airy look. The café section is wrapped in a perforated-steel mesh cage that allows plenty of natural light but also deflects heat. The long bar, with a surface made of the same steel mesh, guides customers toward the back half of the store to the Stüssy showroom. As he’s done at Stüssy shops in Los Angeles and Amsterdam, Perron’s design plays on the building’s elemental structure while also paying homage to the urban, punk roots of ’80s skate culture, when boarders turned abandoned construction sites into playgrounds. He imaginatively repurposes mundane materials: Stacked cinder blocks topped with marble form display counters for tees and caps, and wood and steel drywall studs are used for racks of hoodies and crews. “It’s a bit like a gallery,” says store manager Kevin Birung of the understated effect, which also recalls the mind-bending minimalism of American artists like Donald Judd. “The idea is to provide a clean, simple frame that really allows the pieces to stand out.”

The monochromatic colour scheme is punctuated by well-placed greenery: snake plants and a Zanzibar gem as well as ivy that spills from a suspended galvanized steel ventilation duct. But the key design element that’s specific to the Toronto location is also the most compelling: a rear wall clad in wide curved plywood that wittily mimics the underside of a half-pipe.

The two brands have long shared an aesthetic, an audience and an affection for skate culture.

Coffee culture has long since outgrown conventional cafés and diners; you can now get a high-end java fix everywhere from bookstores to barbershops. But in Toronto at least, Stüssy and Sam James Coffee Bar share not only a design aesthetic but also some history. The two businesses first partnered at a Queen and Ossington location before their new landlord evicted them both in December 2015. There was a neighbourhood outcry, and James, who was shaken up by the events, was eager to team up again. “I think a lot of the shared vibes between SJCB and Stüssy does come down to the crowd involved in both brands,” says the long-time skateboarder. “I have a lot of friends and friends of friends working for me, and the same goes for Stüssy, so there’s a familial feel when you come into the space that we share. We’re having a good time together, and I think there’s a youthfulness in both brands that our clientele relate to and feel.”