Comrags

A strong work ethic and a similar taste for music and vintage clothing first brought designers and co-owners Joyce Gunhouse and Judy Cornish together while studying Fashion Design at Ryerson in the early ‘80s. Young and unsure of how their line would fare with the public, they decided against a self-titled brand and instead went with Comrags: a hybrid of ‘comrades’ and ‘rags. “We wanted a name that was familiar and had a masculine feel but was also a word all unto itself,” explains Joyce. It was only at the suggestion of fellow Canadian designer John Fluevog, that they added Gunhouse and Cornish to the label 11 years later. “John told us we were crazy for not having our names on the label and that customers want to know who they’re buying from,” says Joyce.

After selling wholesale for around 15 years, they opened their first bricks-and-mortar shop on Queen Street West in 1997, later moving to Dundas Street West in 2012. The retail shop gave the two designers the opportunity to go back to what they had originally loved about working in fashion: the hands on approach.