Sold Out

Just as the trees are starting to bloom, 2008 is also being ushered in by the blossoming green tips of new boutiques poking through the ground—again! Last year saw so many openings that it bordered on worrisome; exactly how many independently owned dress shops can this town handle? And yet, they rarely seem to close… onward, […]

2008 hit the ground running this year in most respects, and local fashion is proving no exception. Fashion shows are coming fast and furious, with at least one thing going every other week. This time around, there are two shows on the week’s calendar and even more in sight (including the Mercury‘s annual show), plus […]

It starts with a simple shirt. A smart, handsome, collared men’s shirt that hangs in variations on a rack in Seaplane (827 NW 23rd). While the ease of fit and the soft precision of tailoring can’t be appreciated until worn, the patterns on the crisp fabric caught my eye immediately: a floral in dark, romantic […]

Rock music and fashion are like the peanut butter and chocolate of pop culture, even though the combination has been done to death. In Portland, the predominant stereotypes about fleece and hiking boots are being given chase by newer stereotypes about hipsters, indie rock, and all the fashion and haircuts that that implies, so it […]

Nicolle Camarata is the irrepressible, wide-smiling radio and Fox television personality of Nicolle Shops Portland, a cheerful bounce through Camarata’s favorite boutiques. This year marks the second Nicolle Shops Portland runway event, a charitable occasion with proceeds and auction earnings going to recipients like the Oregon Chapter of Multiple Sclerosis Society. VIPs who pay $40 a […]

With Portland designers reaching increasing levels of polish in their designs, business acumen, and press clippings, it’s important not to forget the primordial ooze from which such scenes evolved in Portland—one of reckless creativity, joie de vivre, and, frequently, bikes. This week sees us in the midst of Mini-Bike Winter V, a five-day festival of […]

Regardless of the dreary, wintry February landscape, the movers and shakers of Portland’s apparel scene are not waiting for spring to start bustling with activity. The coming week provides a full schedule of goings on—from shows to parties to massive sales and trunk shows. Of particular interest to anyone hearing wedding bells this year is […]

Every week I fill this space with news from Portland’s small boutiques and designers, and many of the people who read it aspire to become part of this community. Publications like WWD are the trade papers for fashion commerce and design, but its stories concentrate on the major playing fields, where huge sums change hands […]

As I mentioned in last week’s Sold Out column [Jan 17], the Museum of Contemporary Craft is currently hosting two interesting jewelry shows, Framing: The Art of Jewelry and Touching Warms the Art. This week, local apparel designers are presenting a runway show of apparel responding to the Touching exhibit, titled “Action/Re-Action.” The lineup of […]

Much is made of the relationship between fashion and art—undoubtedly creative, fashion’s link to human necessity nonetheless makes it forever outside the high-art inner circle (with the exception, arguably, of couture). That gray distance between fashion and art might be sweepingly referred to as “craft,” making Portland’s recently revamped Museum of Contemporary Craft the appropriate […]

Last year, the Mercury held its third annual spring fashion show. Unlike the previous two years, in which we stayed basically true to a traditional runway event, with local designers or independent boutiques presenting a series of looks on moving models, we thought the format needed some shaking up. The sudden prevalence of runway shows […]

The year-end issue of the Mercury (AKA The List Issue) would not be complete without the best and worst in Portland fashion. It was quite a landmark year here, with international press coverage of Portland Fashion Week, not to mention frequent nods to our designers and boutiques from the New York Times, Vogue, Nylon, and […]