San Francisco Independent Fashion
Our very-visual, (almost) chatter-free snap judgment of the day: vintage Cazal sunglasses, $180, available at local t-shirt and streetwear company Free Gold Watch, which just happens to have a pretty sweet show up through July 13 featuring new art by Amanda Lopez.
More snap judgments…
On a casual Friday afternoon such as this one (mid-January, a nip in the air, white-gray sky overhead, just about the time the post-lunch doldrums set in), we’re feeling extra appreciative of the soft cotton, simple silhouette and no-brain-power-required versatility that only the best t-shirts can bring.
In that spirit, we went on a hunt for enviable t-shirts by local independent labels. Here are five for which we’d gladly trade the shirts on our backs.
From top: White shirt with mink stole and pearls, Free Gold Watch; Busted tee, Nooworks; Code Green shirt, Binary Winter; Ohlone Chiefs Mission Dist. t-shirt, Gangs of San Francisco; Needs More Wolves tee, Headline Shirts.
More local designers…
San Francisco’s Western Addition got a boost in the fashion department this week with the arrival of the Nooworks store, stocked with the label’s laid-back apparel and accessories by local designer Jennifer D’Angelo.
Taking over the 300-square-foot space from Free Gold Watch (another local label), the shop currently houses a summer collection of terry towel and vintage-inspired denim mini-dresses, 60′s surf-minded denim parkas, accessories such as the ever popular Nooworks sunglasses and t-shirts for men and women printed with signature designs, often featuring the work of local artists and Nooworks collaborators such as Jay Howell and Diego Manino.
Designed in San Francisco and made in Oakland, the home-grown line has built a steady following among independent fashion fans in the five years since debuting with a single t-shirt featuring a drawing of the label’s namesake, D’Angelo’s Westie pup Noo Noo.
“The store will be a great place to find limited edition and one-of-kind pieces,” says D’Angelo.
Among them, shop visitors will find a series of so-scary-they-might-be-cute pillows printed with Manino’s ghoulish illustrations. Next up for Nooworks? A forthcoming fall collection that’s darker and moodier than previous seasons and inspired by murder mysteries, noir-ish fog and Jekyll and Hyde. We’re getting shivers already. See below for a few preview pics by San Francisco fashion photographer Liz Caruana, who recently shot the fall collection in the eerie environs of the Stockton Street Tunnel. If you ask us, the tunnel’s never looked so good.
A perfect time to pony up in person? Head there on your way out tonight for the Nooworks grand-opening party from 5 to 9 p.m. And anytime the mood strikes, shop this local label online and keep up with Nooworks news and happenings via its blog.
[Photo credit: all photography by Liz Caruana]
And one more after the jump….
