San Francisco Independent Fashion
Having graced the cover of Esquire and appeared in multiple issues of Vogue, posed lying down next to a red Ferrari and while skateboarding without a shirt, model and designer Erin Wasson has been around the block (not to mention the world) a few times. [Read more...]
Spend any amount of time in and around San Francisco’s growing fashion community, and you’re likely to run into Owen Geronimo. Founder of the San Francisco Fashion and Merchants Alliance (SFFMA) and producer of local events such as this weekend’s San Francisco Fashion Week – The Reinvention and the ongoing Fashion Mash-ups series, Geronimo is constantly organizing gatherings that give local designers the opportunity to show their work [Read more...]
It might surprise you to learn that Bay Area jewelry designer Kate Ellen was never a girlie girl, which might seem like a prerequisite for success as a maker of pretty things women wear on their wrists, necks and lobes.
“I was always kind of drawn to the blurring of gender stuff. I grew up as a tomboy…The metal smithing end of [jewelry design] is something that girls aren’t traditionally taught to do. I get dirty. I’m wearing a mask when I work, and that’s part of the reason that I think it’s so much fun. It’s not totally over the top feminine. It’s somewhere in the middle,” says Point Richmond-based Ellen, who solders and shapes each piece of her silver, brass and gold jewelry ($80-$350).
The Bay Area native decided to pursue jewelry as a business only after intending to follow a career in public health. But the end of a relationship that led her across the country and back again sent her into reevaluation mode. That’s when the 28-year-old decided to take what had always been a hobby and turn it into a full-time gig.
“I felt like I really wanted to be doing something really creative and artistic. I basically just decided to just go for it,” she says.
Ellen may make it sound simple, but ask her more about her journey, and you’ll quickly discover that hard work and entrepreneurial spirit lies underneath. In addition to classes at East Bay creative hub The Crucible, Ellen took business and accounting classes and reads voraciously about entrepreneurship.
Her advice for budding designers?
“Even if you’re really, really talented, just prepare yourself that it’s marathon and not a sprint,” she says.
As for the pieces that Ellen makes for men and women, the frill-free designs mix hard and soft sensibilities and can often be worn in more ways than one.
Says Ellen:
“My aesthetic is sort of industrial, but very organic at the same time because a lot of the shapes aren’t perfectly symmetrical and a lot of the pieces are sort of androgynous.”
Want to peruse Kate Ellen Metals in person? You’ll currently find them at Wonderland in San Francisco. Custom orders are also available by contacting Ellen directly.
More San Francisco jewelry designers…
The Facebook of Fashion: Helen Zhu, founder of innovative social networking site talks about trends, success and street style
– SF Indie Fashion Contributor Cortney Clift
As a Mechanical Engineering major who studied at UC Berkley, Helen Zhu is possibly the last person you’d peg to have a career in the fashion industry.
Born in Beijing, China, Zhu moved to Northern California with her family in her early teens. While her mother’s ideal date outfit was always a “turtleneck,” she explains that she has always had an interest in fashion, regardless of her parental restrictions. After working and consulting for numerous online companies, she decided it was time to start up her own web site, which would soon become Chictopia.
Chictopia is a social networking site built for anyone with an interest in fashion. Site members post daily photos of their style, give feedback on fellow users’ outfits and blog about anything on their mind. With over 100,000 registered users spread out across the globe, Chictopia offers a raw, uncensored look into the street styles of today.
Despite Zhu’s well-deserved success, do not expect her to behave like your average, high-strung CEO. Currently residing in San Francisco, Helen embodies the laid back vibe that has become synonymous with the city. She can be spotted rummaging through local thrift stores on weekends and admits to indulging in reality television in her spare time.
On a foggy afternoon recently, Zhu took a break from an average day at the office to explain a little more about building Chictopia into the site it is today and what she has learned from her experience.
How did you come up with the concept for Chictopia?
I wanted to do something that I knew would hold my interest for a long time; which narrowed it down to clothing, food and pets. There was already a lot of websites geared towards what I was looking to create in food and pets. However clothing and fashion was an area that I felt was lacking in innovation, and that is when I started to work with my team to build Chictopia.
What is it about your site that sets it apart from other street style blogs?
What I think we have at Chictopia that other sites don’t have is the fact that it is a community. Sites like The Satorialist are great but, they are from one person’s point of view, whereas here we tend to push towards fashion democracy where everyone has a voice.
Your site has a really interesting system in which avid users can earn rewards. Can you explain that concept a little more?
Basically, as users participate and contribute to the website, they can redeem their points for real products that are usually coveted items of the season. We’ve given away items that are either priced high or low, ranging from a bejeweled two-finger ring to a Rodarte for Target dress, to Payless shoes. It can basically be anything we find that’s chic that we feel would align well with our community. We try to reward our members with those products.
What is it that you enjoy most about your job?
I really like the fact that I put so much work into it, and so when I see the results, I know that they are immediately tied to my own efforts.
What are some trends that you have seen a lot of your members wearing recently?
Floral is a big one. I guess thigh high boots also, but those aren’t as popular right now because summer is approaching, underwear as outerwear. Socks and sandals have also been popular for a few seasons now.
What advice would you give someone trying to break into the professional world?
Making your presence known, both offline and online is really important these days. It has become increasingly more important to do so online because your reach for an audience is infinite. I think by participating in an online community, starting a blog, or tweeting you are being involved and you are keeping your accomplishments up to date.
Is there anything career wise you would like to do that you haven’t had a chance to do yet?
I think I am doing what I have always wanted to do right now, which is to build my own company and making it grow.
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If long since forgotten, hopelessly out-of-style leather jackets have a hero, it’s certain to be Shannon South, the San Francisco-based designer behind ReMade USA, whose leather handbags made from cast-off jackets have given fans of eco-friendly fashion a solution to their incurable leather obsessions. Since launching in 2009, South’s line of one-of-a-kind handbags has been featured everywhere from Style.com to Fast Company and landed at Barneys New York stores around the country. This week, ReMade USA has the distinction of being one of 10 eco-friendly labels chosen for a coveted spot in the Designers & Agents Green Room during the New York marketplace’s spring show of over 1,000 companies.
We caught up with South, 37, recently to chat about her design process, her transition to eco-friendly fashion, thrift store style and her tips for greening our own shopping habits.
Tell us about your design process. How do you decide what kind of bag to make from each jacket?
Every bag has to be designed based on the details of the jacket. It’s not the most automated system…Certain jackets work better for certain styles. If I find a big 80’s style jacket with big pockets…then I say, okay this will work great for the Powell bag. It’s basically a rectangular bag that, when it’s hanging, forms a hobo shape and has big pockets.
How many hours does it take, on average, to create one bag?
It can take, from start to finish, from two hours up to like six hours. The more large pieces of leather I have to work with, it’s a lot less work. Most of the work is involved in piecing it together. I like the large men’s jackets because they’re very boxy. A small, fitted women’s jacket is a lot of work, because I completely disassemble it, and I lay it out flat and I stitch the pieces together. The more fitted the jacket is, the smaller the pieces are.
Where do you find the leather jackets you use?
When I first stared, I was going around to thrift stores around San Francisco, but it became way too much work. There’s so much stuff that’s donated to Salvation Army and Goodwill. Way more stuff is donated to them than they actually sell. Then they sell it to other companies that sort everything and sell it in bulk. It can be kind of hit or miss. Sometimes I’ll get a shipment and I’ll get great ones, and sometimes they’ll be really worn.
You’ve said before that the jackets have a history. How so?
A lot of my custom orders are people sending me jackets. It’s really amazing. People send me the history of the jacket, and they tell me why it’s important to them. I’ve had one woman who sent me her brother’s jacket from when he was in his 30’s when she was in her 60’s and he had passed away. She was so happy about being able to use this memory that she had. I think the history and the emotional value is what’s most exciting to me.
How did you land on the idea of making bags from leather jackets?
I’ve been making bags for a long time. When I first started, I was making bags from remnant vinyl material from the sixties. I would find these really cool, close-out vintage vinyls and make these funky bags. Those materials were in a really limited supply, and then I started working with a factory in China, and I streamlined my designs. I was mainly making these PVC laptop bags [under the label Supreme Love Story]. They were cute, but I didn’t really have any connection to them anymore. I like working on the actual product myself.
I started thinking about how everything is so throw-away, and I did some research and found out that PVC is one of the worst materials, just the amount of energy and chemicals that were going into making these bags. And I didn’t like being detached from the actual project. I couldn’t find any materials that I liked that were not damaging in some way environmentally. I’ve been a vegetarian for quite a while, so I didn’t really feel right about using new leather.
How do you dress day-to-day?
I’m pretty casual minimalist, a lot of black, which can be dressed up or down, with a mix of vintage. I throw some 80’s in when I’m going out. When I moved here two years ago, I vowed never to wear fleece in public unless I was out doing some kind of sport activity.
Do you have any tips for how we can all be more eco-friendly shoppers?
I think that the most eco-friendly you can get is shopping in thrift stores. Not everyone likes to do that. Try and get more creative with the things you have already. Even buying organic things is still consuming, and it still takes a lot of energy to produce organic and recycled things.
Buy high-quality, not fast fashion, things that are not super trendy and will last a long time. Avoid fast fashion. Almost everything I’ve ever bought at H&M looks terrible after a couple washings. I avoid buying things just because they are a good deal. I love thrift stores and curated consignment shops mixed with basics. I try to only buy things I love and that I know I will wear until it has holes in it. I try to buy American when I can, but that is really difficult, though I believe we need to support small U.S. manufacturers.
Find new uses for things. I recently accidentally shrunk my boyfriend’s sweater, and I’m planning on making a stuffed animal from it.
Do you have a favorite local thrift store?
One of my favorites, I like Community Thrift. They have 50 percent off days every other Monday, so that’s a good deal.
What prompted your move from New York to San Francisco?
I guess I just wanted to kind of slow down. One of my best friends lived here. I was not thinking about this business when I moved here. San Francisco has been a major influence on starting this line of bags. I think the fact that people here are so much more dedicated to trying to be more careful about the way that they treat the earth, it definitely was something I noticed and became more aware of myself.
Like what you see? Send South a leather jacket to turn into a new bag, and you’ll save $20 on your order. And this week, a sale on clutches in underway in the ReMade USA online shop.
Photography courtesy of ReMade USA
More San Francisco fashion interviews…
