As if permanently suspended in a Salvador Dali-esque painting, an aura of surrealism and mystery lingers in the air of Aaron Duarte and Paul Heaton’s vintage clothing shop, The Eye Of Faith. Whether customers are drawn to the two-headed skull or the Annabelle doll perched atop her chair, the shop beckons those who desire an experience into the unknown. “We both have a love for occultism and mystery,” explains Paul.
The owners’ styles marry well. Paul, who comes from a line of psychics and whose great-great-grandfather was an illusionist, has what he terms an organic involvement in fashion. Whereas Aaron, who has a background in film and interior design, always loved fashion, and “couldn’t escape it,” he explains. Their combined aesthetic sees pieces that are “timeless, eclectic and have a classic edge,” says Paul.
“We always had really cool clothes that we would pull to sell,” Aaron explains on the shop’s origins. With an online shop launched in 2011, and a Toronto-based pop-up shop featured in Toronto Life in 2013, the pair decided to open a permanent location in 2014.
