Byline: Lewis Taylor The Register-Guard
Lily Maxfield and Shanti Birmingham, both 17, were recently seen
scouring the racks of a downtown Eugene clothing store, in search of
one-of-a-kind clothing and accessories.
“We don’t want to look like everybody else,”
Maxfield said.
“I love original stuff that you can’t find anywhere
else,” Birmingham added. “Stuff that is unique, that makes a
statement.”
As far as what that statement is, it all depends on where you shop.
These days, especially if you’re looking for something truly
original this fall fashion season, there are more shops than ever
offering their own homegrown designs.
Rachel Schultz, owner of Colette Jewelry Bar Boutique, 780
Blair Blvd., expects texture will be a big selling point this fall and
winter.
“Everything is very luxurious and girly,” says Schultz,
30. “Super luxe and super girly.”
Colette offers plenty of cool-weather texture.
But it’s more than just a shop.
It’s also a workshop.
In the back of this Whitaker neighborhood store, you’ll find
sewing machines and jewelry making stations, which remind you that the
stuff you buy here was not designed by some New York fashion guru.
Schultz calls her store a “one-stop style shop,” and 90
percent of the clothing and accessories are designed and made locally.
There are cotton shrugs by a one-woman company called Out of Line and
stylish fleece tops for women by another solo outfit called Sweet Skins.
In the back of the store sits the jewelry bar – an enormous case
housing works by Schultz and Mari Lee, another local designer.
Elsewhere, there are baby clothes and body scents, greeting cards and
original pieces of artwork.
When Schultz signed the lease on her 2,400-square-foot retail space
– which used to house Foolscap Books – she wasn’t sure how she was
going to fill the room. But, she says, the designers showed her the way.
“We all felt like we wanted to take our (design) businesses
out of our homes,” she says. “It was perfect timing.”
Colette is named after a French author who pushed new boundaries
for women, and that’s exactly what Schultz says she would like to
do. She bases much of her business philosophy on the writings of Paul
Hawken, a proponent of corporate reform and environmentally sustainable
business practices who co-founded Smith Hawken garden stores.
Schultz believes that as petroleum reserves dwindle, businesses will
have to become more self-reliant.
Along with the environmental and economic advantages of buying
locally made goods, there are also practical reasons for shopping at a
store such as Colette, she says.
“It’s more personal when you shop here,” Schultz
explains. “You can see something that you like, but you don’t
see the color you want or the size or maybe it’s not exactly what
you need. We can make that happen.”
Recycled finery
At Deluxe, a second-hand clothing store at 1331 Willamette St. that
also offers original designs, owner/designer Dagua Webb Nelson is buying
all the cowboy boots she can find this fall season.
“Especially old ones,” she says.
Along with boots, Nelson, 34, is selling lots of boutique jeans and
women’s skirts made from recycled jeans. She can make two
women’s skirts out of one pair of used “old-man jeans.”
Tunics and “secretary blouses” with painted decorations are
also very popular.
`(Women are wearing) anything that’s kind of ornate and seems
kind of fine and feminine,” Nelson says, “and they’re
pairing that stuff with old jeans.”
Deluxe offers what Nelson terms “redesigns,” which
include her recycled jean skirts, hand-painted blouses and other
once-used items that have been made new again. There are cotton baby
shirts stenciled with slogans and stars, and used jeans that have been
“over-dyed” with purple and other colors.
In the accessories department, there are belts made from old ties,
handbags made from old skirts and jewelry made from Hawaiian kokui nuts.
“I don’t want to shoot myself in the foot,” Nelson
says, “But you can make a lot of these things yourself.”
Nelson designs most of the original creations in her store and the
clothes are stitched right in the shop. A quartet of sewing machines sit
idly in the corner before a massive red curtain made out of thrift-store
upholstery fabric.
The space was once occupied by Dave’s Pie Shop, but the room,
with its red walls and giant paper lanterns, has been completely
repurposed – much like the clothing on the racks.
A good portion of Nelson’s business is still second-hand
clothing. By subsidizing her own burgeoning design business with used
threads, she can ease into the world of original fashion.
“I’d like to have my own clothing company,” she
says. “But I’m in no hurry.”
T-shirts always in
No matter what people are buying this fall, Peter Lin can always
count on an old standby:
“One thing that sells all the time is T-shirts,” says
Lin, 31, the owner of Android, 1016 Willamette St.
Lin’s store specializes in second-hand T-shirts stenciled with
original designs. Some of his creations are crude – he offers a
women’s tank top emblazoned with the word “vagina” -
while other designs are more refined.
One of his most popular stencils is a female power icon created out
of a raised fist and the familiar Venus symbol.
Using spray paint and silk screens, Lin applies his icons to used
shirts (he prefers the term recycled), and turns plain tees from Old
Navy and other mall retailers into gritty fashion statements.
“Most of our stuff is urban,” Lin says. “But we have
all kinds of different styles.”
Leather bracelets made of old belts are another popular original at
Android, along with military-style belts made of spent bullet shells.
Military-inspired clothing is a favorite of Lin’s. He got his
start in the fashion business in Portland selling military duds to a
Japanese supplier. He worked at the Red Light vintage clothing store in
Portland before moving to Eugene.
“In Portland, there are so many shops opening up, so why not
try here?” says Lin, who teamed up with his wife, Rachel Bergeson,
and business partner, Joseph Bernhard, to open the store in the spring
of 2004.
Android, which is housed in a space that used to be Harlequin
Beads, is splashed with black paint and decorated with neon beer signs.
Lin sometimes keeps his mini Doberman pinscher, Queen Latifah, strapped
to his back while working.
Because Android is located next to the McDonald Theater, the
clothing store occasionally attracts a big-name rock star. The members
of the punk band Social Distortion reportedly bought up most of the
leather biker jackets in the store earlier this year. Lin promises to
have more jackets with snaps and zippers in stock this fall and winter.
“That’s one thing that didn’t catch on last year
that’s going to be big (this year),” he says.
Cowboy boots are another big seller at Android, along with
1980s-style ski jackets and “anything that you’d see on `That
’70s Show.’ ‘
Go your own way
University of Oregon senior Annie Hinkes is seeing an underground
trend on campus.
Students making their own clothing.
“I think it’s really cool when people decide to go
outside the box and create something (themselves),” says Hinkes,
21, adding that some people look for clothing they know were created
locally and not in a sweat shop environment.
Hinkes, an art major specializing in jewelry design, is one of
those students who is channeling her creativity additional info into clothing and
accessories.
Last spring, she and a group of friends set up shop at the
Willamette Valley Folk Festival, selling jewelry, silk-screened shirts
and cotton underwear printed with flocks of birds under the moniker No
Style/Pale Pink.
“We focused on putting out products that were stylish and that
people could wear,” Hinkes says. “We weren’t trying to be
too trendy. We were trying to put out clothing that reflects our own
style.”
Hinkes and her friends did well for themselves at the Folk Festival
– they ended up selling out their entire stock of shirts and underpants,
and unloading a handful of jewelry pieces – but the fashion collective
remains largely underground.
All of the advertising is word of mouth and Hinkes doesn’t
know when the outfit will be selling its clothing and accessories to the
public. She plans to continue making and selling jewelry until she can
figure http://ift.tt/1bIYauF out the next move.
“I would love to pursue art somehow,” she says.
“Whether that would be going into my own business or pursing my MFA I don’t know. It will all fall into place.”
STAYING IN STYLE
You can find original fashion at the following outlets:
Colette Jewelry Bar Boutique: 780 Blair Blvd.
Deluxe: 1331 Willamette St.
Android: 1016 Willamette St.
Pale Pink/No Style: 513-2988, annnjay@aol.com
CAPTION(S):
Brittany Katter models a skirt “re-designed” with
applique and decorative stitching; a T-shirt decorated with a fabric
applique and a silk flower corsage; and vintage shoes. The fashions are
from Deluxe, a second-hand clothing store in downtown Eugene that offers
original designs. Sara Jane Hall models clothing and accessories from
Colette Jewelry Bar Boutique, including a cotton knee-length
skirt, a bow shrug by Beki Wilson, a camisole by Mira and Annin and a
gather top in lycra lace by Wilson. Kelly Lawson wears original
“re-designs” from Deluxe including a skirt, a blouse with
painted decorations and a handbag. Thomas Boyd / The Register-Guard
Deluxe owner Dagua Webb Nelson wears a skirt made from jeans, a tee with
fabric applique and vintage cowboy boots. Far left: McKenzie Davie
models clothes from Android including a U.S. Navy top with added studs
and a U.S. Army camouflage skirt with a bullet belt. Left: Tiffany
Browne carries a mini-pinscher in a Swedish Army gas mask bag and wears
a vintage coat and U.S. Army six pocket skirt from Android.
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