Who: Minami
Where: Kyoto
Cutest piece: My COMME des GARCONS backpack!
Photo by: AM

Ese Carnal’s Donovan Skirvin’s take on 2008:

Predictions for 2008 and beyond..

I really like what Elizabeth Dye said in your column a week back.
I’ve been thinking about this a lot. I think that at least some of the money that has gone into building these new boutiques comes from all that easy re-financing afforded to home owners that last few years. Now that the adjustable rates are beginning to adjust people aren’t so excited to have spent the money.
There are too many boutiques. And, too many amateurs involved, it seems. Over the next year, the limitations of the economy will show. And, so to will the true stars.

There are a lot of makers here. Plenty to stock a boutique. As the number of boutiques dwindles, the ones that remain will be of high caliber. As well, we’ll see Portland’s designs all cuddled up next to each other within the few remaining spaces. This too will help out the social darwinism of things. Hopefully, we’ll be seeing the benefits of competition. Our beloved designers doing better and more exciting work.

And,,…

Wouldn’t it be great to see someone with money back a manufacturing venture here? It wouldn’t be impossible for someone to start a non-profit manufacturing outfit. Just as Kaiser Permanente is a non-profit medical treatment provider, there could be such a thing as a non-profit garment factory. We could have a decently paid collective of professionals serving the design community of Portland. There are warehouses and industrial sewing machines here. If you structured the company right, you could even get big local companies to give big tax deductible donations to it. Down the road, you could involve the agriculture community too… Bamboo grows just about anywhere. The U.S. textile industry could rise from the dead. Especially with the weak dollar, there’s incentive for such a thing to happen.

Maybe such a thing is being worked on right now.

I guess that’s the hope part.

Phlox’s Barbara Seipp writes in to answer my request for perspectives on what 2007 was and what we hope 2008 can be:

I think the highlight of ’07 has been the performance of Portland’s local designers. Since arriving in Portland, I have watched the scene develop and I am impressed with Portland’s ability to cultivate and attract talent. Along with that, Portland women are definitely becoming more adventurous, a little bit more sophisticated in their fashion sense. We are moving away from the Patagonia-clad or hipster-uniformed look.

The best trend of 2007 really started in ’06, but didn’t catch until this
year – The Return of the Waist! Love, love it. All the belted shirts and
sweaters combined with the high-waist pants couldn’t make me more happy.
I hope this casual glamour, Katherine Hepburn look lingers for awhile.

I think the best emerging designer is Agnieszka Zoltowski. Her jewelry is
amazing! She walked into my store and showed her work – I was blown away
and thrilled to have it at Phlox. You can visit her site,
appleseed-designs.com, to see a small (her collection is huge) sample of
her work or you can come into Phlox to see some of it in person.

In the new year, I will be re-launching my line! I am very excited about
this, I have been away from it for too long. Expect new designs toward
the end of February.

Bad trend – the mis-use (over-use) of “eco-friendly” or “green” as
associated with apparel. Sustainable practices are very important to our
future and I think that these words have become very diluted in the
apparel industry. On my last buying trip it seemed that *everyone* was
using this type of language to promote their use of organic fibers in
their lines – many made in Asia. Organic fibers are good, but we need to
also think about where this stuff is produced, it takes a lot of fossil
fuel to truck those organic fibers from China. It is nice to see the
Portland fashion scene setting standards and keeping the “sustainability”
dialogue at the forefront.

Seasons Greetings from TOKYO! Just wanted to give you all a heads up that I’m living here in the Cute Alert! Mothership for the next two months, documenting what’s cute on the streets of this amazing city. Look out for my ‘Cute Alert! of the Week : Tokyo Editions’ and randomn writings about some of the cute and crazy things I discover! Have a great holiday and Happy New Years! XO