California Apparel News

SAN FRANCISCO—In the mid-’90s, designer Dema Grim left the hustle and bustle of New York for the laid-back beauty of San Francisco. For five years, Grim had had a flourishing career in Manhattan’s competitive fashion market, selling her designs to retailers such as Barneys New York and other select boutiques. In California, she hired reps on both coasts, but things just weren’t going the way she wanted.

So in 1997, Grim decided to open her own store—called Dema—in San Francisco’s Mission District. She’s been there ever since.

“When I opened, everybody thought I was making the biggest mistake,” Grim recalled. “This neighborhood had kind of a sketchy history, but restaurants and bars were opening at the time, and I figured people would see the store at night and come back during the day to check it out.”

It was a daring move given that the bottom was dropping out of retail at that time and the contemporary category her designs fell into was still young. Her luck prevailed and the dot-com boom brought businesses and plenty of foot traffic her way. But the retail roller coaster took her for another ride when many of those dot-commers closed up shop. She stuck around because she loves the neighborhood, and living in nearby Bernal Heights made the area home to her.

From the beginning, Grim’s work reflected her personal style. Fashion was something she just “fell into.” Born in Alabama, she grew up in Seattle, where she learned patternmaking from Terry Horlamus, now the director of the New York Fashion Academy in Seattle.

“She really taught me everything I know,” Grim said.

In New York, the designer continued to hone her craft by doing costume design for theater and alterations, which educated her without any formal schooling.

The now 30-something fashion plate admits her style has evolved. She says there is nothing in her store she wouldn’t wear. She doesn’t avoid trends, but if she doesn’t like it, she doesn’t do it. “I design for myself,” she said. “As I get older, the clothes get a little more sophisticated. I made short shorts when I was 22 in New York—not doing those anymore!”

Grim’s store is made up of her own designs along with a mix of tees, sweaters, accessories and jewelry from the likes of Woo, Velvet, Splendid and smaller emerging designers. The petite space seems just right to showcase her vibrant collection, with a modest office-studio in the back and another room packed floor to ceiling with fabric. “It’s a little laboratory,” she explained. “I buy fabric, make it and put it in the store the next day. It’s very freeing to be able to do it that way, instant gratification.”

Her popular wide-leg, side-zip pants, which wholesale for $55 to $65, are available in different fabrics each season. Fall ’05 boasts thin corduroy in multiple colors or denim, and a gaucho length with a flattering fit. The pants feature a contrast lining, something that’s become a signature of her line. “I always have to have something crazy inside,” she said.

Other key pieces in the collection include a three-quarter sleeve Audrey Hepburn-esque blouse, for $55 to $65, and a fitted jacket with three-quarter sleeves, about $120 to $140. She also loves her halter dress with a “super-flattering cut” in a diverse assortment of fabrics with a contrasting print along the bottom edge. Another signature item is a classic coat that she’s been making in various fabrics for three years. “It’s one of my favorites,” she said. “I am really influenced by clean lines and like the A-line shapes of the ’60s.”

Though her mod-girl sensibility and punk-rock roots inspire her designs, Grim cites Dries Van Noten, Marni, Prada and Marc Jacobs as her favorites, describing them as “the intellectual people who aren’t concerned with sex appeal.”

When she opened her boutique, she stopped wholesaling to all but one other store, MAC (Modern Appealing Clothing) in San Francisco’s Hayes Valley. She now also sells her collection to a shop in Brooklyn, Flirt, and is open to selling to other small boutiques. But she is quick to note that she is, by no means, on a wholesaler schedule.

“I do collections, but I add pieces year-round,” she said. “It’s very organic.”

Grim is in her store all the time, and being there means she gets plenty of feedback. “Customers like that I’m back here working away. It puts a human face on it,” she noted. “But I take it personally if people complain. Sometimes I hide in the back.”

She is currently working on pieces for fall and Winter including a 1940s-influenced blouse, a “Great Depression, very ’30s dress” and a floral pea coat with giant buttons and a ’60s fit.

Her work is full of color and texture, with a playful, lively appeal. “I feel like everything in my line is classically shaped, so it has a timeless quality,” she said. “My clothes are not flashy, they’re simple.”

Dema is located at 1038 Valencia St., San Francisco. For more information, call (415) 206-0500.