San Francisco Fashion Week Set to Bow
San Franciscans are gearing up for the city’s first fashion week, set to run Aug. 26–29 at the Palace of Fine Arts Theatre, a 1,000- seat performing arts theater in the Marina District.
With 15 runway shows and several parties scheduled, San Francisco Fashion Week is expected to draw some 3,000 buyers, editors and fashion industry people to the Bay Area, according to exhibitors. Representatives from Nordstrom, Macy’s West, Fred Segal, Villains, Daily Candy, Elle, YM, Lucky and the San Francisco Chronicle are among those planning to attend.
The event is the city’s first effort at launching an official fashion week. Organizers hope to highlight the talent of a meacute;lange of up-and-coming Bay Area designers and labels, including Colleen Quen Couture, Liz Bang Swimwear, Saffron Rare Threads, Starr D., Besnik, Christina Hurvis Couture, Evarize, Zilda by Flavia, Hieros and Lily Samii. The Art Institute of California and the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising will also present student and alumni shows.
In between shows, guests can shop at the Fashion Week Boutique, which will offer fashion, handbags, accessories and beauty products from 20 vendors.
JetBlue Airways, Presidio Merchant Partners LLC, Spa-Bar, NARS Cosmetics, Vespa San Francisco, W San Francisco, Zink Magazine and SF Weekly are a few of the event’s sponsors.
Images from the fashion events will be featured on Wire Image (www.wireimage.com), said a fashion week spokeswoman.
“We’re expecting the show to create a lot of buzz for local brands,” said retailer Catherine Chow, co-owner of Azalea, a women’s contemporary boutique in Hayes Valley. “The event will be good for local boutiques that carry these up-and-coming brands. You don’t have to buy brand-name clothing to find quality and detail in this city.”
In addition to attending all of the fashion shows, Chow and her business partner, Corina Nurimba, plan to host a pre-show party at their boutique, which offers designer resources including See by Chloe, AG Adriano Goldschmied, Ted Baker and J. Lindeberg as well as local labels Abi, Soft Service and A.P.C.
Boutique owners said local design talent has helped spur sales, especially in Hayes Valley, which has seen a retail revitalization of sorts. Now that local contractors have reemerged from dot-com–era gloom, which forced many out of business in the late 1990s, San Francisco designers have capitalized on competitively priced production.
“There are designers here that are doing exceptional work,” explained Elizabeth Varnell, San Francisco editor of Paper City, a fashion, style and social magazine headquartered in Houston. “It’s an international city, and I think an official fashion week will help boost its visibility.”
Retailer Ben Ospital said he is looking forward to showing his support for local designers and stylists during San Francisco Fashion Week.
“We’re a small community here, and they’re a big part of what we do,” Ospital said. “We like to support them.”
Ospital, co-owner of Modern Appealing Clothing (MAC)—a high-end boutique in Hayes Valley that carries Bay Area lines Lemon Twist, Deborah Hampton, Dema, Joseph Domingo, Margaret O’Leary and David Romero, among others—said local designer collections make up 35 percent of his business. “Many San Francisco designers are honing their craft and creating collections that are authentic and original,” he said.
Lights, cameras, action
Mystery Girl Productions, producer of the Catwalk Fashion Show, is staging the four-day event with help from the city’s fashion community, according to Erika Gessin, event producer.
Among those lending a hand are students from the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising and the Art Institute of California who volunteered to work as greeters and backstage hands, Gessin said.
Gessin said the event’s budget increased by $30,000 to cover production costs, bringing the total cost to $70,000. She said she is personally absorbing 40 percent of the expenses; the rest is covered by designer participation fees ($500 per show) and sponsorships.
Tickets granting admission to three fashion shows cost $25 each. So far, the event has sold roughly 500 tickets.
Gessin said Mystery Girl Productions sent out one invitation for the whole event and gave the designers the option to send out individual invitations for their shows.
Gessin and her support staff selected 30 models from a pool of 180 models from local agencies, including JE Models, Muse Models, Look and City Models.
The show’s featured designers are adding the final touches to their collections before runway rehearsals begin next week, she said.
Girdles and hurdles
The success of San Francisco’s Fashion Week will reveal whether the fashion world is ready to accept the city as a fashion destination, observers said.
“I think some fashion people are a bit nervous about it because their expectations are high and they don’t want to see it fail,” explained Kathryn Retzer, style director at San Francisco magazine. Some designers were hesitant to participate because they were afraid the event would not meet the fashion industry’s expectations, she said.
“If this year’s show goes well, then people will support fashion shows like this in the future,” Retzer noted. “If it fails, then we know, but at least we tried.”
Ali Ghanbarian, publisher and editor in chief of SOMA, an alternative lifestyle magazine that promotes fashion, said he is skeptical about plans to launch San Francisco’s first fashion week.
“SOMA has been trying to change the image of San Francisco as being a lame fashion city for a long time, but I don’t think the city is ready for a fashion week,” he said. “There needs to be more support from the industry. It’s a boutique town, and it’s consumer-driven.”
Others are reserving their judgment until after the event.
Fern Mallis, vice president of IMG, which produces runway shows for 7th on Sixth in New York and Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at Smashbox Studios in Los Angeles, will not be attending the event.
“We’ve read some information, and we’ll take a look and see what they’re doing,” she said.
The San Francisco way
San Francisco Fashion Week is open to the public—an anomaly in the fashion world, which typically limits fashion show attendance to buyers, press, celebrities and other invited guests. But many designers are glad their fashions will be more accessible to the public.
Christina Hurvis, whose couture gown collection will be featured on the runway, said she chose to participate because she wants to gain more exposure for her line. “The cool thing about this show is that my collection is viewed not only by fashion people and buyers but by everyone who wants to come see a fashion show,” she said.
Hurvis, who moved to San Francisco two years ago, runs her couture business out of a 4,000-square-foot loft in the city’s SOMA (South of Market) district. Her custom-made gowns are produced in the city.
“I’ll be able to reach a wider audience,” Hurvis said. “That’s what makes this fashion show stand out from other big fashion shows.”
In addition to local designers, San Francisco Fashion Week will feature Rock & Republic from Los Angeles, Loungewear Betty from New York and Fornarina from Italy.
Rock & Republic’s anti-traditional denim sportswear will fit right into the show’s unique format. In addition to showing a handful of womenswear pieces for Spring ’05, Rock & Republic will use the show as a platform to debut its first menswear line. The collection is rock-inspired—everything from “a torn, beatup jean to a fine tailored shirt that’s been ripped just so,” said Rock & Republic designer Michael Ball via cell phone in Madrid. “San Francisco has a lot to say about fashion, and San Francisco Fashion Week gives them the opportunity to present fashion their way,” he said.
For more information, call (415) 341-7061, or visit www.mysterygirlproductions.com. For tickets to the event, go to www.cityboxoffice.com.
