San Francisco Independent Fashion
Our very-visual, (almost) chatter-free snap judgment of the day: the never-goes-out-of-style appeal of a Fast Times’ era Phoebe Cates featured on the Hi Brad shirt, $36, one of the new fall designs from Oakland’s fiftyseven-thirtythree label.
More snap judgments…
The first retail location for Oakland-based brand fiftyseven-thirtythree debuts tomorrow with a grand opening party and all-day discounts for shoppers.
Known for its bold, pop-culture-infused graphics featuring such badass folks as Anna May Wong, this men’s and women’s apparel company will finally have a storefront of its own after several years as a regular on the local indie shopping event circuit.
Oh, and one more reason to check this shop out: In a moment of McGyver-inspired genius, co-founder James Dawson once fixed his broken-down car with a paper-clip (he also won a silver medal in the 1988 Olympics for men’s badminton).
For more about fiftyseven-thirtythree, check out our interview with Dawson.
More San Francisco fashion news…
How many fashion designers do you know who can win a silver medal in the Olympics and jerry-rig a broken-down car with a paperclip? Well, now you know at least one: James Dawson.
Along with Loretta Nguyen, the designer is one-half of Oakland-based fiftyseven-thirtythree. Best known for their line of hand-stenciled t-shirts and hoodies for men and women, Dawson and Nguyen recently celebrated their 2nd anniversary in the Bay Area independent fashion biz.
We caught up with Dawson to chat about the label, fighting Prop 8, where to score Congee in the East Bay and the designer’s own storied past.
Who is fiftyseven-thirtythree?
Well, mainly it’s James Dawson and Loretta Nguyen. We started it about two years ago out of our warehouse in East Oakland. We print at the Hiero Imperium (hieroglyphics) warehouse, which is also in East Oakland. We’ve expanded a bit, so we have a small, highly-trained and extremely dangerous, badass staff now that includes May, Moy and Narisa.
Of what design or designs are you most proud to have associated with your label?
That’s hard to say. Sometimes the things I like best don’t fly. We do a Stand up against (h)8 shirt and donate the money to Courage Campaign. We’re pretty proud of that because it’s helping to affect change. We’re very opposed to Prop 8. The Japanese Schoolgirl hoodie is one of our favorites. It’s super labor intensive and sometimes when you work really hard on something, you develop a stronger connection to it. Personally my favorite is the Lincoln Selleck tee, which everybody said would fail, because who wants a shirt with Tom Selleck and Abe Lincoln? Apparently lots of people!!!! HAHA, I win, fuckin’ haters.
Tell us why Anna May Wong is a badass chick we should all know and love.
Just wikipedia her. I wouldn’t know where to begin. She was the first Asian American to be in Hollywood films. That doesn’t seem so important now, but this started almost 90 years ago. This country still had miscegenation laws back then. She did so many things that they said couldn’t be done. She was a total rebel, but a very refined and elegant rebel.
In the two years since you launched your business, what has been the greatest challenge you’ve faced in getting your work out to the people?
Just time and staff. You can only do so much in a day. One recurring problem is this: we choose to use only domestically made, sweatshop free apparel. That is much harder than it sounds. There are a much more limited number of producers and manufacturers in this country. Also the cost is much greater. It’s a choice we made a long time ago, and we have stuck to it. I know no work place is perfect or without flaw, but the factories here are regulated to a much higher degree. Also workers have more recourse here if there are practices taking place that are unfair or unsafe.
You’re a proud Oakland-based label. If we had a Saturday afternoon to spend in the E.B., where would you send us?
Cam Huong on International, great Vietnamese sandwiches. Lo Coco’s for Italian on Piedmont Ave – you could order nothing and just eat the bread. It’s that good. Gum Ko in Chinatown has some badass Congee. See, I just work all the time, and when I’m not working, I eat or sleep, so I have no good leisure activities to recommend. Just restaurants.
Tell us something most people are surprised to learn about you.
In 1988, I won a silver medal in men’s badminton at the Seoul Olympics. Also, once my car broke down on the 5th street on-ramp, and I fixed it with a paper clip!!! How fuckin’ Mcgyver is THAT?
Where can we buy fiftyseven-thirtythree?
What’s next for fiftyseven-thirtythree?
Designing, we’re always designing. Probably only 30 percent of what we design never gets made. Other than that, you know, it’s where the day takes you.
Keep up with fiftyseven-fiftythree by perusing the label’s web site, befriending the designers on Facebook, checking them out on MySpace or exploring their latest designs on etsy.
I picked up a super sweet hoodie from this Oakland designer at last weekend’s Holiday Indie Mart for a certain person who shall remain nameless until later this week. At the same time, I learned about the fiftyseven-thirtythree Christmas Party and Warehouse Sale going down tomorrow afternoon in the EB.
This is a great designer to check out if you’re looking for something locally-made with a young, surfer-skater-ish edge done with solid depth. And what I mean by depth is that there’s more to the designs than just cool looking stuff on fabric. I’m in love with the whole Anna May Wong revival they have going on, with some items featuring not only the 1920′s film star’s face, but also her birthdate and nickname hand-printed on patches and sewn into the fabric. If you don’t know anything about Anna May Wong, read up on her. She was the first Chinese American siren of the silver screen – and a total fashion badass.
