Simons Hits Vancouver

The 100,000-square-foot department store sits right at the nexus of runway and street fashion.

Think of this place as a love child between Nordstrom, Winners and home-grown Hill’s of Kerrisdale with an art gallery thrown in. It’s a gorgeous department store with a crazy mash-up of high/low and a local bent that magically just works—a marriage of accessibility and fashion. There’s a $2800 Cédric Charlier coat and then $4 paisley bandanas. Find an edited collection of international designers like Rick Owens along with Twik, the department store’s young, contemporary in-house (and affordable) brand. There’s also a home décor section with an equally eclectic line-up—navy blue anchor bath mats, chunky knit blankets, graphic duvets (we once found Liberty of London pillows for $20 in the brand’s Edmonton outpost).Part of the 175-year-old family-run brand’s charm is how they see fashion and local art as symbiotic. Kayachtun, meaning welcome, is a sandblasted granite relief on the exterior entrance of the store created by Coast Salish artist Jody Broomfield. On the main floor, Bobbie Burgers ceramic wall flowers in various stages of decay —Innocence Disobedience—highlights female rebellion. And no Vancouver art forum would be complete without Douglas Coupland, whose giant Bow Tie sculpture fills a two-storey atrium in a statement-making feat of engineering.Finally, Eve, Simons 50-seat café mixes bright mosaic tile with plaid banquets and orange chairs and features a French Canadian inspired menu (French onion soup, chicken fricassee and beignes)—with, of course, more of the local focus: views of the Lions Gate Bridge and Ambleside Park.Simons2002 Park Royal SouthSimons.caHeader image by Park Royal Development