A fashion icon in Toronto has passed away.
Saul Korman, known as the "Duke of the Danforth", was the owner of Korry's Clothiers to Gentlemen in Greektown.
The announcement was made on his Facebook page Sunday.
"Legend, icon, mentor, hero," the post states. "Thank you for everything. Thank you for helping shape Canadian men’s fashion through your passion, dedication, and most of all love for people. You are one of a kind, irreplaceable, and simply the best."
Korman passed away at the age of 86 years old due to a heart attack.
Condolences began pouring in on Sunday, including from Mayor John Tory who tweeted:
"We will never again see the likes of Saul Korman, the Duke of the Danforth. He was much more than the owner of a men's clothing store, one I shopped in.
He was the ambassador, the salesperson, the inspiration that helped make the whole of the Danforth what it is today: a destination. My condolences to his wonderful family and to all of his many friends. We will miss him and we will miss hearing his voice on the radio."
According to the Korry's website, when Korman and his father set up their first store at Danforth and Coxwell, there was "nothing but used car lots and TTC barns as far as the eye could see."
"By 1958, (Saul's father) Nathan was ready for semi-retirement and Saul decided to re-start the business at a better location, across and up the street in a vacant Tip Top Tailors store. Around the same time, however, the TTC decide to relocate its yards," the website states. "The resultant neighbourhood shift from predominantly middle-class Scots-Canadians to poorer Greek and Italian immigrants meant that Korry’s had to struggle to make ends meet."
But Korman started making guest radio appearances in the early 1960s after meeting CHUM radio personality John Gilbert.
"The more guest appearances he made on the radio, the more intrigued Torontonians became by the man and his store. They began searching out “the lonely Jewish tailor on the Danforth,” as one of Saul’s successful newspaper ads referred to him."