Patrick Assaraf is a Toronto menswear label built on a single idea: that the plain things a man wears most often are worth making properly. It started with one t-shirt in Peruvian Pima cotton and grew into a full collection of what the trade now calls quiet luxury, sold through more than 180 retailers across North America. We have carried the line at Mr. Derk in Edmonton for years, and you can see the current Patrick Assaraf collection here.
Patrick Assaraf is a Canadian label, designed and run out of Toronto, and the range fits true to size. The Iconic t-shirt is cut slim. The polos and the merino knitwear are cut regular. The jersey tees and polos are 95 percent Peruvian Pima cotton and 5 percent spandex, made in Peru and pre-shrunk before the garment is cut. Prices here run from a $74 t-shirt to a $399 merino cardigan.
This article covers what the brand actually makes, how the pieces fit, what they cost, and where to buy Patrick Assaraf in Canada. If you have found your way here after reading about the man himself, there is a note on that below.
Who Patrick Assaraf was
Patrick Assaraf was born in Israel and built his career in Toronto. He spent thirty five years in menswear and made the trip to Pitti Uomo in Florence for most of them. Before his own label he worked in distribution, bringing other people's brands into Canada, which is a useful education in what sells and what only looks good on a mood board. Ian Rosen, president of Harry Rosen, has said publicly that his company worked with Assaraf for more than forty years, first as an importer and later as a design partner. When he finally put his own name on something, it was not a jacket or a suit. It was a t-shirt.
He was unsentimental about how long it took. He described the label as built on quality, fit and value, and said it took a good five years to perfect what they were doing.
He died on 14 March 2025, at 66. His collections were in Harry Rosen and roughly 180 other retailers across the continent at the time, and his daughter Hinda was already working alongside him in the business. The label has carried on, and we have carried on buying it. Our most recent Patrick Assaraf pieces landed this season.
We mention it because people ask, and because getting it wrong in either direction seems worse than saying it plainly. The clothes are the point of this page. But if you knew the name from the trade, that is what happened.
The Iconic T-Shirt, and why a tee costs seventy nine dollars
The Iconic is the piece the brand is known for and the one most people arrive looking for. It is 95 percent Pima cotton grown in Peru and 5 percent spandex, made in Peru, and pre-shrunk before it is cut. Pima has a longer staple than ordinary cotton, which is a dull technical fact with an obvious consequence in the hand: the fabric is smoother, it holds colour better, and it does not go bobbly across the shoulders after a season. The spandex is what keeps the collar and the body in shape rather than what makes it stretchy.
What you are paying for is not the cotton alone. It is the fact that the shoulder seam sits where it should, the neckline holds its shape through the wash, and the hem does not creep up. A cheap tee fails at all three, usually within a month, which is why men who try one tend to come back for the other colours.
We stock the Iconic in crewneck at $79 and v-neck at $74, in black, white and navy, with seasonal colours coming and going. Right now there are steel blue and brick red on the floor alongside the core shades. Size runs go from SM through 3XL, and the black and navy v-necks are the deepest we hold.
The knitwear is where most people underestimate the brand
If you know Patrick Assaraf only as a t-shirt brand, you know about a third of it. The larger part of what we carry is knitwear, in extra-fine merino the brand sources from Italian mills, and it is the reason the line works in an Edmonton winter rather than just an Edmonton July. The knits are made in Europe rather than alongside the jersey in Peru.
The extra-fine merino quarter zip is the piece we sell most of, at $269 in grey, navy and black. It is thin enough to wear under a jacket without bulk at the armhole, which is the usual failure of a mid layer, and warm enough on its own with a tee underneath. There is a textured black merino version at $249 and a tan ribbed quarter zip at $399.
Beyond the quarter zips there are ribbed merino crewnecks at $299 in navy and tan, a black merino turtleneck at $299, a charcoal turtleneck at $239, bubble stitch full zip cardigans in brown wool and charcoal merino at $399, and a deep purple chainlink stitch crewneck at $299. The navy cotton cashmere knit hoodie at $349 is the one that surprises people. It is a hoodie in name only and wears like a sweater.
Polos, henleys and the warm weather pieces
The stretch Iconic polo runs $129 to $139 in black, midnight blue and light blue, and it is built on the same fabric logic as the tee. There is a long sleeve polo in bordeaux at $149, a black cotton blend honeycomb stitch polo at $279, and a navy ribbed long sleeve polo at $359 that reads as knitwear more than as a golf shirt.
For summer we carry a light green botanical print linen camp collar shirt at $299, a white short sleeve button up at $229, and a black stretch long sleeve henley at $159.
How Patrick Assaraf fits
This is the question we answer most often on the floor, and it is the one the big retailer product pages tend to skip.
Take your normal size in everything. The Iconic t-shirt is cut slim and will sit close to the body. The polos and the merino knitwear are cut regular and will feel noticeably roomier in the same nominal size. That is the whole rule, and it covers most of what people phone to ask.
How close is close? The brand's own body chart puts a MM chest at 38 to 40 in (96.5 to 101.5 cm), and the Iconic crew in M measures 40 in (101.5 cm) around the chest with a 26.5 in (67 cm) back length. So at the bottom of a size band you get a clean trim fit and at the top of the same band you get something closer to a second skin. Same size, two quite different experiences, which is why we would rather you tried one on.
If you want more room, do not size up the t-shirt. Move to a regular-fit style at your true size instead. The pattern grades in length and armhole as well as chest, so a larger Iconic gets longer and sloppier through the shoulder rather than simply wider. The Stretch Iconic Polo at $129, the long sleeve henley at $159 or any of the merino knits will give you the ease you are after and still hang properly. Our old article on this brand told you to size up for drape. That advice was wrong and we have corrected it.
One thing worth knowing before you buy elsewhere. Some large retailers list the Iconic tee as a regular fit when the maker calls it slim. If you have read regular fit somewhere else and then found the shirt tight, it is not that the brand runs small. It is that the fit was described loosely. Check the style rather than the category, because there are a few slim polos and knits in the wider range too.
We hold SM through 3XL. If you are ordering from outside Edmonton and want the chest and length of a specific piece before you commit, phone the shop and we will measure the actual garment off the rack for you.
See the full Patrick Assaraf size chart for measurements on the Iconic tee, the polos and the merino knits.
Is Patrick Assaraf a good brand
It is a good brand at what it sets out to do, which is a narrow thing done well rather than a broad thing done adequately. You are not buying tailoring or outerwear here. You are buying the layer that sits against you, in better cotton and better merino than the price would suggest, cut by someone who spent three decades looking at Italian menswear before he started.
Where it earns its keep is frequency. A $79 tee that you wear weekly for four years is a cheaper garment than a $30 tee you replace every spring, and it looks considerably better in the interim. Where it does not make sense is if you want a statement piece. Nothing here shouts. That is the entire design brief.
Where to buy Patrick Assaraf in Canada
The brand sells through better independent menswear shops and department stores across the country, Harry Rosen among them, so you have options depending on where you are.
What you get from us is a shop where someone has handled every piece on the rack and will tell you honestly if the size you want is the wrong one. We are at 8025 102 Street NW in Edmonton, we ship across Canada, and we will measure a garment for you over the phone before you order. You can browse the Patrick Assaraf collection we have in stock and call if you want a second opinion before buying.
Frequently asked
Who is Patrick Assaraf?
Patrick Assaraf was a Toronto menswear designer who spent thirty five years in the industry and built an eponymous label around luxury basics, starting with a t-shirt in Peruvian Pima cotton. He died on 14 March 2025 at the age of 66. The brand continues, and his collections are still stocked by well over a hundred retailers across North America.
Is Patrick Assaraf a Canadian brand?
Yes. The label is headquartered in Toronto and the parent company, PYA Importer, is Toronto based too. Manufacturing is international: the jersey tees and polos are made in Peru from Peruvian Pima cotton, and the merino knitwear is made in Europe from yarn the brand sources through Italian mills.
Is Patrick Assaraf good quality?
The fabrics are a clear step above high street basics. The Pima cotton holds its colour and resists pilling far better than standard jersey, and the merino yarn comes through Italian mills rather than commodity suppliers. The construction shows in the parts that usually fail first: necklines that keep their shape and shoulder seams that stay where they were sewn. Harry Rosen carried the line for decades, which is a reasonable proxy for whether it holds up on a floor that takes returns seriously.
Does Patrick Assaraf run true to size?
Yes, take your normal size. The Iconic t-shirt is cut slim and sits close to the body. The polos and merino knitwear are cut regular and feel roomier in the same size. If you want more room, move to a regular-fit style rather than sizing up the t-shirt, because the pattern grades in length and armhole as well as chest. We stock SM through 3XL.
What is Patrick Assaraf known for?
The Iconic T-Shirt in stretch Peruvian Pima cotton. It is the piece the label was built on and still the one most people come looking for. The extra-fine merino knitwear has become just as important to the collection, particularly the quarter zips.
How much does a Patrick Assaraf t-shirt cost in Canada?
The Iconic crewneck is $79 and the v-neck is $74 at Mr. Derk. Polos run $129 to $359 depending on the fabric, and merino knitwear runs $199 to $399.
How should I wash it?
Wash the cotton pieces cold and hang them to dry. The stretch fibre in the jersey is the part that a hot dryer degrades, and once it goes the shirt loses its recovery and starts to sag. The merino is better hand washed cool and dried flat. Follow the care label on the garment itself, which is always the final word.
Where can I buy Patrick Assaraf clothing in Edmonton?
At Mr. Derk, 8025 102 Street NW. We keep the core Iconic tees and polos in stock year round and carry the seasonal knitwear as it lands. You can also shop the collection online and we ship across Canada.
