TIP TOP TAILORS BUILDING 1929

TIP TOP TAILORS BUILDING 1929

This Art Deco building is a Toronto waterfront landmark. Architect Roy H. Bishop designed the U-shaped concrete structure as the head office, warehouse, and factory of Tip Top Tailors suit manufacturer and retailer. David Dunkelman, a Jewish immigrant from Poland, founded the company in 1909. It became a leading Canadian clothing brand and produced uniforms for the Canadian military during the Second World War. Men and women, many immigrants, worked here as tailors, cutters, trimmers, and office employees. Set on large landscaped grounds, the building features Art Deco styling such as coloured terracotta panels, low-relief sculpture, bronze and copper metalwork, and a stone and terrazzo lobby. When the building was renovated and converted for residential use in the early 2000s, salvaged letters from three existing signs were combined and reinstalled at an angle atop a new five-storey glass addition.

Designated under the Ontario Heritage Act, 2003

HERITAGE TORONTO 2019

Sarah J. McCabe

April 17, 2023