Cynthia Rea has a long history in fashion. She worked at several Toronto boutiques over the course of a decade, managing inventory and merchandising the store. Her passion for fashion extended to her studies at George Brown College’s School of Fashion Studies. Because Cynthia launched her own fashion line in 2008, first operating out of her apartment and selling to small boutiques in Toronto, opening a retail outlet for her line was the natural next step.
Cynthia opened Black Daffodil in The Junction in 2009, producing her own clothing line in a studio at the back along with selling other brands appealing to young working women. “The idea was to draft patterns and help customers whenever needed,” Cynthia explains. But the store’s retail sales soon picked up and Cynthia needed to focus her efforts on her own collection or expanding the retail side. “I had to decide where my passion really lies and it’s mostly in retail, in merchandising and buying.” Cynthia eventually closed her studio in 2011 and went full-force with Black Daffodil’s retail operation, launching an online store in 2014 and expanding to a second location at Bloor and Bathurst in 2015.
