FASHION Magazine

By Amy Verner

It might have looked schmaltzy to pedestrians in search of a post-holiday bargain: Instead of its usual shelves of shoes, the Capezio flagship on Bloor Street had been cleared out, its walls defaced with scribbled signatures from every member of the Markowitz family, whose patriarch and matriarch, Louis and Julia, founded Davids—the footwear fantasyland next door—56 years ago, and Capezio itself in 1976.

In anticipation of a massive $2-million renovation to both stores—now nearing completion—the graffiti-style family tree, encircled by a heart, represented the end of one era and the beginning of another. After all, it was on October 13, 1971, that a signed bottle of champagne inaugurated Davids’ move from Eglinton Avenue West to this frontier location on Bloor, known at the time more for its rows of banks than its upscale shops.

“It was very risky,” admits David Markowitz, president and CEO of Markio Designs (the parent company of Davids and Capezio), of his company’s decision to shock Toronto-the-fashionably-sedate with a sudden influx of international shoes. “We were the only [store] in the city carrying European designer footwear.”

In the early years, it was the selection of Charles Jourdan, Bruno Magli, Roger Vivier and Maude Frizon that attracted the well-heeled. These days, it’s Valentino, Christian Louboutin, Sergio Rossi, Salvatore Ferragamo and Marc Jacobs, as well as an impressive selection of luxury handbags.

“We always think of ourselves as a world-class store whose competition is not Toronto but the world,” says Markowitz.

And while the footprint of the shop has been unchanged for decades—as the family was packing up pre-reno, they discovered long-abandoned miscellany, including Louis Markowitz’s vintage cigar boxes—the ambitious makeover preserves the past while embracing the future. Envisioned by local design firm Burdifilek, the highlights include a sweeping Brazilian wood and glass staircase leading to the mezzanine, where the men’s shoes are; a Milar plastic art installation with holographic effects; and custom-designed, ’70s-style Plexiglas chair vitrines to house one-of-a-kind items.

Next door, Capezio is also getting the wash-and-brush-up treatment. Markowitz literally followed in his father’s footsteps when he, his wife, Faye, and his twin brothers, Alan and Lorne, opened Capezio. (It originally specialized in dance shoes, hence the name, an homage tot legendary dance shoe designer Salvatore Capezio.) Now, with nine Davids and Capezio stores across Toronto, it helps that Markowitz’s sons, Arlin and Richard, have recently joined the company.

“There’s a great sense of satisfaction that my father could see I was doing it and that he was relaxed and proud of me,” says Markowitz. This is something he looks forward to with the next generation.

With her sample-size foot, Faye is, of course, the company’s secret weapon—and she has Malcolm Gladwell–like instincts when it comes to assessing the tastes of Toronto’s women. But for all her family’s success, she remains philosophical about what the future holds. “I know that nothing is forever,” she says. “I take things one day at a time.

Or, perhaps more appropriately, one step at a time.

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