D.I.Y., Together: Workshop Opens

Just because you like to do-it-yourself shouldn’t have to mean doing it all by yourself. That’s the idea behind Workshop, a creative arts space opening on Saturday in San Francisco’s Western Addition from the founder of the widely-attended Indie Mart events.

“I wanted something really interactive. Indie Mart is really fun and people love to come out to it, but it’s not a place people can come on the regular,” Workshop co-owner and Indie Mart founder Kelly Malone tells us.

Inside the 800-square-foot space, what Malone dubs an “inspiration library” beckons artists and designers with a collection of books and reading materials meant to spark new ideas and projects. Ten sewing machines and screen-printing equipment are on hand for use in upcoming workshops, which will range from single sessions to multi-day classes on a wide variety of topics such as starting your own t-shirt line, container gardening, wine tasting for beer guzzlers and – Malone’s personal favorite – Rock ‘n Roll Sewing for Dudes.

“I wanted a place where even my completely craft challenged guy friends could come hang out,” says Malone.

To that end, beyond-the-crafty reasons to visit the space abound. There’s a ping pong table, a projector for movie nights and even a multipurpose bar for use during parties that doubles as a sewing storage unit and a place for turntables.

Almost everything in the place, save a few items scored from IKEA, was designed and built by Malone and her dad, a skilled carpenter, using reclaimed, recycled or donated materials. Chairs for use during group classes sit perched on a shelf when floor space is needed for events, while a sculpture incorporating over 1,000 recycled light bulbs offers a constant reminder that ah-ha moments are just waiting to happen.

To get in on the action in person, stop by the space on Saturday, Sept. 19, from 7 to 11 p.m. for an opening party featuring music and live silk-screening demonstrations, or visit the web site next week for a calendar of upcoming classes starting the week of Sept. 28.

(None yet)

Don’t Miss: American Apparel Flea Market Tomorrow

Fans of American Apparel take note: the company best known for basics with here-and-now edge is coming to San Francisco State University tomorrow for a day-long sale. We hear from our contacts (thanks, Milt!) that the event is free, open to the public and boasts items starting as low as $2. If you’re game to go, head to the Cesar Chavez Student Center (here’s a campus map) and dig in.

More upcoming fashion events in the San Francisco Bay Area….

(None yet)

SF Indie Fashion News Roundup: Hambone Designs, Oxenrose Blow Out Class, Marie Denee Launch and more…

Sun+late August+Friday=we don’t wanna work no more. In other news….

Streetsblog San Francisco alerts us to local bike bag maker Hambone Designs, and we like what we see (and not just because they named one of the stylish bike utility bags The Balzac, pictured).

The Renegade Craft Fair is now taking applications from designers for its San Francisco holiday event.

Marie Denee of The Curvy Fashionista fame will launch an online boutique for plus-size style-seekers this fall. We applaud this. There is a serious drought of great plus size fashion in this world and what is out there is often hard for shoppers to find. And besides, style has nothing to do with size. Like you needed us to tell you that. The launch is currently slated for Sept. 9.

New York, we hate you. Sniff.*

Dude, it’s time you learned how to blow yourself.** For that, go to Oxenrose in Hayes Valley on Sept. 24 for the salon’s first blow-dry class. It’s $75, but you can use half of that towards the purchase of products to help you keep you reproduce the ‘do at home. Email ashley (at) oxenrose (dot) come to sign up.

Local jewelry designer John S. Brana gets a show at Bloomies.

Crafty people, hear this: You can now obtain the entire box set of Craft Magazine for $75 (reg. $150) when you use the coupon code CRAFTSUB at checkout.

Project TransAction has launched a line of handmade leather dog collars (available at Jeffrey’s Natural Pet Foods) and is currently have a 20 percent off online sale on all leather goods.

Crossroads Trading Company got in touch to remind us that a back-to-school wardrobe doesn’t have to cost your schoolbooks’ weight in gold. Buy, sell, trade. You know the deal.

We are quite intrigued by the Noe Valley blog’s news that Green 11 may be opening up another shop in San Francisco. We love the idea behind the company, which allows you to bring your own containers to fill up on eco-friendly cleaning supplies and beauty products.

If you love Moxsie as much as we do, you’ll want to sign up for the site’s newsletter. It means an additional 10 percent off your next purchase of $50 or more.

Acrimony has a new look.

*Really, we are just sickened with jealousy. Someone please record this and send us a vid. We’ll do something nice for you.

**Typically on Fridays, we momentarily regress into 12-year-olds.

(None yet)

Chatting It Up with UsTrendy

When we heard the founders of the online fashion community UsTrendy had relocated the company to the Bay Area this year, we immediately wanted to learn more about the social networking-driven site’s offerings for emerging and independent designers and their fans.

The site allows allows users to review, rate and purchase art, apparel and accessories by artists, independent clothing and accessories designers and rate models who create profiles on the site. Each season, UsTrendy produces select items of clothing and accessories that have received top rankings from site users. Top-rated designs such as the look shown here by annyshka can also win their creators cash prizes ($100 is awarded to a winning design each week) and other perks like spots in UsTrendy fashion shows.

We caught up with UsTrendy founder Sam Sisakhti recently to ask some questions about the site and how it works. He and his team were kind enough to answer. Read on…

Can any designer sell work on UsTrendy?

Yes, anyone can sell and post on UsTrendy. We do not want to restrict or put any restrictions on who can post or sell on our site. The whole point of UsTrendy was to create an open system where the people are the judge rather than a select few. We also want to allow any designer to pursue their dreams and gain exposure to further them in their craft.

Say we want to buy an item, but have a question or special request for the designer. Can we interact with designers directly?

Yes, you can interact directly with the designers. Part of the purpose for the website is to allow consumers to directly interact with designers. We want to bring the two together. It will be beneficial to designers to hear direct, firsthand feedback from consumers, and it will be a neat treat for consumers to be able to talk directly to a designer whose clothing they wear.

How does UsTrendy use social networking to its advantage? Why, for example, would we want to follow UsTrendy on Twitter? What’s in it for us?

We want to use social networking as a way to keep in touch with our user base and update them on the exciting developments going on with UsTrendy. We also poll users and give away cash prizes to users with the best suggestions on topics that are only seen on Twitter.

But even more importantly, we use the social networking such as Twitter to connect one on one with our users and find out their likes and dislikes. For our users to connect with us on a personal level and for us to hear exactly what they are thinking. The social networking is a way for us to connect in a more peer to peer way because at end of day we are a lot like our users: people who are passionate about fashion and dedicated to helping indie designers gain exposure.

We hear UsTrendy is showcasing some of its most popular designers in a Las Vegas fashion show early next year. What’s the event all about?

At UsTrendy we are trying to create as many opportunities for designers as possible whether it be production, cash funding, education, etc. So knowing first hand that many designers dream of one day having their own runway show in a major fashion week, we have partnered with Vegas Fashion week and will giving the winning UsTrendy designer their own runway show in one of the biggest fashion weeks in the country. Through the show they can gain exposure to major retailers and buyers and make a big step forward in their career. We have been blown away with the excitement among the designers on our site regarding this competition.

How many designers are currently selling their work on UsTrendy?

We have over 7,000 designers on the site (this number is growing rapidly) and about a third of them are selling their work on the site. The remaining two thirds  are using the site to gain exposure, enter into contests, gain customer feedback, gain funding and gain production.

The company recently relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area. Will we find UsTrendy at any upcoming local events?

Yes, we recently moved to Bay Area and we are looking not only to attend local events, but we want to help and support designers locally through some specific Bay Area competitions and contests geared towards the Bay Area Design community.

And one more question after the jump….

Read more…

(3 Comments)

Finders Keypers: 823 Key Project

We’re seriously intrigued by the 823KeyProject, an initiative founded by local graphic artist (among other pursuits) Trevor Hubbard, who envisions the project as a way to fund artists’ grants through the sale of one-of-kind key pendant necklaces.

SF Indie Fashion’s Lorraine delves into the details of this innovative project today on the 7×7.com Glamwatch blog. Click the screenshot below to visit that post and learn more about the keys and the artist grants they’ll fund.

More information on San Francisco Bay Area independent fashion….

(None yet)