I was already on my second event of the evening when I heard that Queen West menswear store Sydney's was having an anniversary party. Although I was due at my third event, for Sydney, I said, anything. "We have to go!" I cried.

Sydney Mamane is one of my favourite shopowners in town--he knows his stuff, and he always makes you feel welcome. When I sashayed into his party was no exception. After saying our hellos, I found out that it wasn't just an anniversary party (complete with great music, hot wings and pate), but a celebration of the store's small expansion.

The bespectacled tattoo enthusiast recently decided, in his usual laidback, laconic style, that, well, he just wanted to "show some more shit" at his men's clothing store, Mamane said.

The store already carries an impeccably edited selection of men's lines to complement Mamane's own bespoke tailoring, but, he said, with the store's three-year anniversary looming and some extra room upstairs, he wanted to expand. But just a little. "It's just a small project. The store started as a small project out of my studio, and the bespoke tailoring was a small project out of the store, and now this is something a little bigger," he said.

In addition to the extra space for bespoke fittings, Mamane wanted a gallery-like area to showcase independent designers "that deserve their own space," he said. "But not in an elitist way--it's just something a little different."

The brands that Mamane will be bringing in for the fall and taking upstairs are all high-end hand-crafted pieces that fall somewhere in between couture and ready-to-wear with their intricate detailing and hand-work. (And price-point.)

Lines that will be gracing the industrial, old-fashioned space include M.A. †(Italy), Individual Sentiments (Japan), Damir Doma (Paris), Augusta shoes (Italy), The Viridi-anne (Japan), Boris Bidjan Saberi (Barcelona), and one of Mamane's favourites, Carol Christian Poell (Milan).

Hand-work? Couture? "So you just wanted to show some shit?" I asked, on my way out to the next shindig.

"Yeah," he said, smiling and swigging the last of his beer. "I just wanted to show some more shit."

Photos by Nikki Andrews