San Francisco Independent Fashion
The recent grand opening celebration for San Francisco’s Peoples Barber Shop drew a crowd decked out in 1920′s style worthy of its Prohibition-themed interiors. Read on for a look at the new Polk Street destination for straight razor shaves, hot towel treatments and quality haircuts.
School may have started up (note the snarling a.m. traffic this week), but we’re just getting prepped for San Francisco summer, a.k.a. regular people’s fall. A shoe you’ll want to kick back in for the sunny months ahead comes from local label Blu Kicks, a socially responsible line inspired by Hawaii’s – oddly enough – shoe-shaped Humuhumunukunukuapua’a fish that sales of the footwear help protect.
Founded by Victoria and Will Leonard after trying to devise a way to help the Humuhumunukunukuapua and its habitat, the San Francisco footwear company offers up casual slip-ons ($58) for men and women made of recycled canvas and natural rubber in beachy hues. Transparent soles reveal a fun fish design waiting underneath, while playful accents at the heel bring added visual interest.
For every sale, Blu Kicks donates $1 to ocean-focused non-profit organizations For the Fishes and Wild Aid.
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San Francisco designer Joseph Domingo (left) was honored for his work during Fashion on the Square.
San Francisco’s fashion community gathered to celebrate the 8th Annual Fashion on the Square this past Sunday at the Intercontinental Hotel. Radio personality Sterling James (dressed in Cari Borja) emceed the celebration of local designers and clothing companies based in the Bay Area, including Regan Heath, Jonathan Cheung, Jaevon Marshall, Keneuoe, Dark Garden, Old Navy, Banana Republic, Apple Bottoms, Charmosa, Troop, Randy Rowden, and Joseph Domingo. From children’s wear to hand-painted swimwear, the event showcased a little bit of everything.
Local designs dominated the event and ranged from Dark Garden corsetry to Keneuoe’s modern silhouettes and Regan Heath’s romantic bohemian ensembles resembling Huckleberry Finn mixed with dandyism. The highlight was the latest collection from Joseph Domingo, honored during the event as 2012 Designer of the Year. Domingo transformed the runway into a glamorous red carpet that the models strutted down in beautifully embellished gowns and finely tailored suits.
Throughout, audience was entertained from start to finish as the show upped the ante by injecting a variety of performing arts into the evening. One of the child models charmed the crowd with her enthusiastic reciting of Mary Williamson’s famous poem “Our Deepest Fear.” Just after intermission, Precision Dance surprised onlookers by entering the runway as if they were models before busting out an intense modern dance performance. Towards the end, a true hybrid of the arts dubbed “composed fashion,” took place as a string quartet set the mood for Dark Garden models in the local label’s intricate corsetry not simply to walk, but to perform their way down the runway.
Check out our photos from the evening:
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Photography by Jennymay Villarete for SF Indie Fashion
San Francisco’s music event of the summer is here: Outside Lands is bringing awesome bands, performers and local food vendors to Golden Gate Park this weekend. Why not show off the best the city has to offer with a killer outfit built from locally-designed pieces?
Ladies, try staying warm in a cozy Micaela Greg sweater. Let your jewelry be fun and functional with a map necklace to keep you from getting lost and a watch to make sure you see your favorite sets on time. Gentlemen, take in the tunes in mocs from Taylor Stitch and keep the fog at bay with a jacket from local denim maker Tellason.
Check our list below to find the goods pictured above. Need something else for San Francisco’s (colder and foggier) version of Coachella? Head to BeGood Clothing, who’ll be hosting an Outside Lands sale on all the new shop’s festival-worthy gear.
Pictured above, from left the right:
San Francisco Map necklace, $24.
Micaela Greg Diamond Lace sweater, $308.
501 Original Fit Levi’s jeans, $78.
Taylor Stitch Red Patterned Chambray shirt, $125.
Convert + Jeffery Campbell Montauk sandal, $110.
Paolo Brown Buckle Ankle boots, $259.
Camilla Olson Silk-Chiffon Marigold scarf, $140.
Amour Vert Maxine Grey Stripes maxi dress, $114.
Ladies Steampunk Watch with Clockworks, $150.
Sarah Tejada Godfried bag, $176.
4sight unisex sunglasses, $49.
Young Love Outfitters Live Loud tote, $15.
Tellason Coverall jacket, $220.
Taylor Stitch Grey & Black California Bear Ballcap, $45.
Taylor Stitch Summer Linen Plaid shirt, $125.
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Sunski glasses will be revived, thanks to a Kickstarter campaign to recreate the vintage frames. (Photo courtesy of Sunski Campaign on Kickstarter)
Meet Tom Stewart and Michael Charley. The two run a small product development company based in San Francisco and recently launched what’s turned out to be an uber-successful Kickstarter campaign to revive what would have been a sad extinction in the world of vintage sunglasses.
A few years back on a surf trip in Forster, Australia (just north of Sydney), Tom came across a pair of sunglasses sitting on a table outside a local surf shop. Drawn to the shades’ vibrant colors, Tom bought all the remaining pairs the store had to offer and went on to rock the sunspecs on both the waves and shore for the remainder of his trip.
So the story goes, when Tom continued to wear his new shades after his return to the States, people constantly asked where they could find them. Eager to hunt down pairs of the whimsical shades for his friends, Tom called the Forster surf shop only to find that they were completely sold out. Next, he hunted down the original manufacturer of the frames, called Sunskis, and learned that the manufacturer had gone out of business decades ago. The Sunskis he’d bought were apparently among the last pairs in existence.
Putting their product development minds together, Tom and Michael hatched a plan to resurrect Sunskis for the modern day. Pairing the original frames’ colorful 80′s-inspired look with up-to-date lenses that block 100 percent of the sun’s ultra-violet rays, the design duo aims to produce “a high quality, hand crafted pair of sunglasses that look as unique as the original and feel even better,” says Michael in the campaign description video on Kickstarter.
It seems fans of retro sunglasses are game. While they’d hoped to raise $9,800 to help pay for the tooling and making of molds for the new Sunskis, the two passed the mark in just three short days. When the campaign closes today, it will have exceeded its goal by over 1300 percent and raised a jaw-dropping $143,000 or more for the project.
Want in? The first Sunskis are expected to land in donors’ hands by September.
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