Torontonians waiting for ‘the world’s best tuque’

Nov 7, 2016 | Life, News

By: Sveta Soloveva

Its designers call it ‘the best tuque in the world’ and it might live up to its name. Consumers have bought 200 of the simple but durable tuques online at $200 a piece, sending Frontier back into production to meet the growing demand.

Michael Gormley wearing "the Frontier tuque" and Tala Berkes celebrate their new fashion project at the pop-up and exhibition of 'the best world's tuque'. Photo by Sveta Soloveva

Michael Gormley wearing “the Frontier tuque” and Tala Berkes celebrate their new fashion project at the pop-up and exhibition of ‘the best world’s tuque’. Photo by Sveta Soloveva

Taka Berkes of Frontier says people love their black tuques because they look good and last a long time. The Frontier designers were trying to create something that would fit everyone and look great, no matter how many years a person is going to wear it.

“I think there’s something elegant about it,” said Berkes. “You are investing in a piece that you will wear for years and years, and you will never look ridiculous.”

Made from cashmere, merino and qiviut, the tuque will keep its owners warm whether they walking downtown in the winter or hiking in the mountains. At the same time, it won’t make them sweat if they are wearing the tuque inside the office, added Berkes.

It took a few hours for Frontier to run off two production orders, 200 in total, online in October, said the business director Michael Gormley.

Now the team has to figure out how to increase the production of ‘the world’s best tuque’, after the studio sold out the last bunch of hats.

“We were always planning to produce as long as there is demand,” said Berkes. “But the demand was so high that now we have to produce very currently.”

To give customers a chance to see the product and try it on, the project team kept 20 hats for a pop-up shop and exhibition at the Angell Gallery last weekend.

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Toronto design studio Frontier presents ‘the world’s best tuque’ at Angell Gallery this weekend. Photo by Sveta Soloveva

The event was first-come, first-serve, and some people called and emailed ahead to buy one of those last hats.

The Frontier team was excited to meet with their customers face-to-face. Gormley said the customers were knowledgable and helped the designers to decide if there’s anything to modify the design.

“As we get feedback from more and more people we might make some changes to the design,” said Berkes. “Nothing is final. You can always include more and more, but it’s too early to switch anything right now.”

Photo by Jim Ryce

Photo by Jim Ryce

Because they are handmade, it takes time to produce them. So with winter coming and demand for the tuque is increasing, Frontier said it might have to hire more people to make the hats.