Among the flurry of address changes happening in Portland retail at the moment (all scurrying to get settled before holiday shopping begins in earnest) is Frances May, which is just scooting over to the more spacious corner spot of its building, at 1003 SW Washington. They’ve set Thursday, Novemeber 13 as the date of their re-opening, and will also use the occasion to debut the next, second season of a collaboration between the shop and Church + State.
A brief history: Church + State is designed by Rachel Turk and Nathaniel Crissman. Theirs were among the most interesting to designs to come out of the Seaplane hub of the early and mid-00s. They were then chosen by Pendleton, along with fellow Portland designer John Blasioli, to design the Portland Collection, which successfully capitalized on the furor around heritage brands and created a boutique market for modern iterations on the aesthetic, reflecting reviving interest in the commitment to US manufacturing as well as bringing slimmer cuts to a brand historically more popular with ranchers than Japanese hipsters.
Now once again working independently from Pendleton and operating as Church + State, the first post-Portland Collection pieces from them arrived in a small spring/summer collection exclusively with Frances May. The shop’s posted just a few behind-the-scenes peeks at the new work, and it’ll be worth checking out in entirety. Particularly after the experience of working for a major wool-focused company, the fall/winter cycle seems to play more directly to their strengths, as witnessed in the preview of a spiffy jacket and majorly cozy looking pants:
You can see the whole thing at the party on the 13th (from 6-8 pm), and in the meantime check out a couple more peeks at it here. The shop’s also running an Instagram contest leading up to the event, through which you can win yourself a fancy new pair of shoes.