San Francisco Independent Fashion
SF Indie Fashion’s Lorraine posted about the Academy of Art University show during New York Fashion Week today on the 7×7 Glamwatch blog, but she didn’t have space there to include all the photos she received. Here, for your viewing pleasure, more photos from the recent graduates’ fall 2009 collections:
Model Chanel Iman in Qianya Martin’s collection
Click through to see all the pics…
When we stepped into the eerily-moody, industrial Mi Concept design space yesterday after weeks of piqued curiosity courtesy of straight-jacket-esque garment bags gracing its Sutter Street windows, our first thought upon finally seeing the clothes in person was something along the lines of, where have you been all our lives?
Not only are the made-to-order pieces from the San Francisco- and Toronto-based collective’s launch collection utterly chic in their trend-oblivious minimalism and neutral hues, but they are also items of apparel with substantive below-the-surface appeal (which is the very kind of thing that gets SF Indie Fashion fired up):
- Each piece is custom-made.
- There are no labels on the clothes.
- On some garments, unfinished elements such as rough hems are purposely left that way to reference the imperfection of life (seriously).
- Most pieces have a twist that only reveals itself upon closer inspection. For example, the white coat pictured below can be worn in two ways:
The space is the latest from Dean Hutchinson, whose eponymous store in Laurel Heights closed in 2007 after 16 years in the city. Seeming to border on being almost uncomfortable with the title designer, Hutchinson describes his role in the new venture as creative director and plans to tap local artists, designers, architects and other creative types to help generate both ideas for forthcoming collections and new products to showcase in the Tendernob studio under the Mi name.
Except, of course, that Mi Concept is really about not having a name. As Hutchinson told us:
“I wanted someone to look at you, and say, ‘That’s a really nice shirt you’re wearing. Who is that?’ And I wanted people to be able to say, ‘It’s Mi shirt.’”
Get it? We love a good play on words. And while we think it’s impossible for a line that achieves public recognition to truly escape the burden of a label (even if it’s not on the clothing), we were smitten with the notion of fashion being about the person wearing the clothing and not about the clothing wearing the person.
When it comes to fashion, Hutchinson puts it like this:
“People are complete and whole as they are….In listening to my clients, what they always say to me is, it wasn’t about how they looked, but how they felt. That’s beauty, that’s power.”
If you’re interested in checking out Mi Concept, it’s a good idea to email or call for an appointment first.
Yup, we joined Twitter. The realization that we had to get on the tweet wagon hit us like a stiletto in the eye as we were standing outside the Goldenbleu sample sale nary a week ago thinking to ourselves, wouldn’t it be nice if we could tell the info-hungry public that this sale just ran out of every size 6.5 sample size shoe? And later, we mused, wouldn’t it be nice if we could just tweet out news of a sale as we strolled passed the storefronts of our favorite local shops? But of course it would be nice! Perhaps even quite fabulous.
So now that we’ve joined the revolution, we hope you’ll follow us on Twitter and check out our updates on the right side of the page.
Maybe it’s because we just started watching Gossip Girl last night via Netflix (yes, our must-watch-everything-from-the-beginning rule put us behind the rest of the planet on that one), but as soon as we discovered the recent drama that’s been playing out online among several prominent indie fashion bloggers, we were immediately glued, stuck and unable to look away. And now we’re compelled, like some anonymous tipster on the aforementioned show, to share the juice. Of course, we’re not anonymous. Nor are we in high school.
Before we dive in, full disclosure where full disclosure is due: we’re members of both FashionIndie.com (note the widget in the sidebar) and the Independent Fashion Bloggers network. Where each are concerned, we’ve had nothing but positive experiences.
So what’s the ruckus? Well, it all started when a New York Observer reporter got wind of FashionIndie.com founder and longtime fashion blogger Daniel Saynt’s plan to attend Christian Siriano’s show at New York Fashion Week, even though he didn’t have a ticket. The reporter then wrote this. (We think the comments section is much more interesting than the article itself.) Note the especially harsh words from this fashion blogger and the reactions from the founder of Independent Fashion Bloggers. Then Fashion Indie responded with a class action lawsuit, which you can read all about here.
There’s no telling how this will all play out, but one thing’s for sure: as a whole, fashion bloggers are gaining prominence – and people are listening to what they have to say.
This is the last week to get out to El Cerrito fine art gallery Eclectix for the Fierce Fashion exhibit, featuring work loosely based on the themes of fashion, clothing and persona. One of the most striking pieces in the show comes from artist Bryan Barnes, whose Living Lolita Lipstick conjures up thoughts of an eerie, Steampunk-era heroine who’d just as soon stop you dead in your tracks as she would ask you where you’d procured that perfect shade of red lipstick.
Many of the pieces in the show are featured in the venue’s online gallery. The show runs through Sunday, Feb. 22.
Featured artists include Bryan Barnes, Marie Barr, Slimm Buick, Sara Christian, Elizabeth Dante, Jenny Dayton, Patrick Deignan, Steven J.Gelberg, Paul Graf, Edmund Grant, Charles Granich, Dion Hitchings, Kerry Kate, Edith Lebeau, Malcolm Lubliner, Mike Maas, Daniel Malone, Polly Mania, Katie McCann, Dean McDowell, Fletcher Oakes, Arabella Proffer, Michael Roman, Janna Stern, Eric Trimble, Neil Verni, Michelle Waters and Joshua Witten.
