Caring Neighborhood, Streetwear Fashions
Hours after a major business disaster, Lara Dean-Fernandez realized that she loved San Diego’s Hillcrest neighborhood.
A tow truck hit a fire hydrant located in front of Dean-Fernandez’s Hillcrest boutique, The Assembly, on Oct. 4. The broken hydrant’s water flooded the boutique, leaving an ankle-deep pool in the 1,200- square-foot space.
When it was safe to visit the store, scores of people, many of whom she didn’t know, visited The Assembly to see how Dean-Fernandez, her husband, Eddie, and her new baby, Locke, were doing.
Better yet, Hillcrest’s people were happy to underwrite their charitable feelings. Assembly saleswoman Nancy Starky rang up $1,000 in sales in two hours by selling fashions that were not damaged by the flood.
“It’s like this neighborhood isn’t located in a big city,” Fernandez said. “People care here.”
Hillcrest also is a neighborhood that loves to shop. It supports more than five fashion boutiques, including The Assembly, TUK, Fresh, Pure, British Invasion and Frills. Sales are also supported by the enthusiastic patronage of wealthy young people from Tijuana, the Mexican border town located about 35 minutes from Hillcrest. Dean-Fernandez estimated that sales to Tijuana shoppers constitute 10 percent of her boutique’s business.
At The Assembly, shoppers have shown more interest in streetwear than in the contemporary, boutique-style labels with which Dean-Fernandez debuted her shop in July. She credited the change to streetwear’s lower price point, which is attractive to San Diego shoppers, who Dean-Fernandez says are more price-conscious than Los Angeles consumers. Streetwear designers also happen to be in style at the moment, she said.
A top-selling item is the combination garment, T-shirt, hoodie, and dress “Key To My Heart” by Cardboard Robot, based in Long Beach, Calif. The garment costs $98, and it features graphics of birds and hearts and a zipper pull shaped like an old-fashioned key.
Another top-selling item is the “Eskimo Gilet” sweater vest by United Kingdom–based Hooch. The vest, with faux fur and a detachable hood, costs $164. Another item that sells well is produced by a label called M.S.C., which stands for Minusong Street Culture. A gray sweater with a hood that covers the face, similar to a ski mask, costs $129.
The boutique TUK does business across University Avenue from The Assembly and is a veteran of Hillcrest’s retail scene. Owner Ian White opened the boutique in 1991 to sell the footwear his family made in England. The San Diego boutique bears the name of the White family’s footwear brand.
Initially, TUK rode the wave of popularity of Doc Martens, a brand favored by punk rockers. Gradually, White started experimenting by selling fashions with a punk or mod sensibility. (Portraits of rock bands The Who and The Clash adorn the boutique’s walls.)
TUK’s top-selling item is the “Street Sweeper” jacket, produced by Santa Ana, Calif.–based Obey Clothing. The $150 jacket, with a faux sheep’s-wool lining, has a British Macintosh-like look.
Other popular items are from the mods’ perennial-favorite brand, Fred Perry. But the leisurewear brand updated the look of its track jacket to a streetwear-friendly camouflage look. Fred Perry’s camo jacket retails for $99.95.
About a block away, Fresh sells tops and sweaters to a core group of women aged 18 to 32. Top-selling items include a crochet-style sweater with a V-neck and tassels. The $58 sweater was produced by Salt & Pepper Ltd.
