Aritzia LP is a Canadian clothing retail company founded in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

, British Columbia, by businessman Brian Hill in 1984. Aritzia sells a variety of lifestyle apparel through various upscale retail stores across Canada, the United States, and online. Aritzia describes itself as "everyday luxury" brand at attainable prices.

History

Aritzia opened its first store in 1984 in Oakridge Centre, a shopping mall located on Vancouver's West Side. Since making national forays across the Canadian retail clothing landscape throughout the next two decades, the company opened its first U.S. stores in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

and Santa Clara in November 2007. The company went public on October 3, 2016. In 2019, major shareholder Berkshire Partners, an American private equity company, exited its stake. In June 2021, Aritzia announced it would be acquiring Reigning Champ, a menswear-focused Canadian

athleisure Athleisure is a hybrid style of athletic clothing typically worn as everyday wear. The word is a portmanteau combining the words 'athletic' and 'leisure'. Athleisure outfits can include tracksuits, sports jackets, hoodies, yoga pants, tight ...

and streetwear brand, for $63 million. In May 2022, Jennifer Wong took over as CEO, replacing longtime founder and executive chair Brian Hill. Prior to taking on the position of CEO, Wong held the role of COO at Aritzia since 2007. Wong joined the firm in 1987 as a sales associate at the Robson Street store in Vancouver, one of the first Aritzia's first flagship stores.

Brands

Unlike other Canadian clothing retailers, Aritzia distinguishes itself by primarily selling its own in-house fashion brands, such as Wilfred, Wilfred Free, Le Fou by Wilfred, TNA, Golden, Talula, Babaton, The Group by Babaton, 1 -01 Babaton, Sunday Best, Main Character, Community, and Super Puff. In 2014, Aritzia introduced two handbag lines: SIXELEVEN and Auxiliary. Stores also carry clothing from labels such as Citizens of Humanity, Mackage, New Balance, Levi's, A Gold E, Havaianas, J Brand,

Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized in all lowercase since 1949) is a German athletic apparel and footwear corporation headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, Germany. It is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe, and the second largest in the ...

, Herschel Supply Co., and rag & bone.

Stores

The interior and exterior architectural configurations of Aritzia's stores are designed individually. After a location is hand-selected, a team of architects and interior designers create a bespoke look with a mixture of local influences, natural materials, custom furniture, and art. It is intentional that there are no mirrors in most of the dressing rooms, forcing shoppers to head into a communal space. (Each store has at least one dressing room with a permanent or roll-in mirror for those shoppers wanting additional privacy). Some locations have complimentary coffee bars or serve alcohol. As of January 2021, Aritzia operates 101 stores in North America; 68 boutiques are located in Canada including 5 TNA stores, 8 Wilfred stores, and 4 Babaton stores. There are 44 Aritzia stores in the USA, including a 13,000 square-foot flagship location in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

, New York City. In January 2017, Aritzia announced the opening of a flagship store in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

on Rush Street.

E-commerce

In November 2012, Aritzia launched the aritzia.com e-commerce site. It also provided a digital magazine with artist profiles and galleries of clothing trends.

References

{{Yoga as exercise 1984 establishments in British Columbia 2000s fashion 2010s fashion 2016 initial public offerings 2020s fashion Athletic apparel retailers Canadian companies established in 1984 Clothing brands of Canada Clothing companies established in 1984 Clothing retailers of Canada Companies based in Vancouver Companies listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange Retail companies established in 1984 Sportswear brands