I make a bunch of people working in the local fashion/design/lifestyle industry answer a bunch of questions for me each winter: what they advise people to wear for holiday parties, what they thought were the best and worst style-related things about the previous year, and—spoiler for next issue—what they are hoping and predicting on the same front for the new year.
I’ll play along a little bit, too. And so here are my top five style-related things about 2014:
1) Attention. All of a sudden, people outside the local industry bubble started paying attention to the independent apparel design/manufacturing sector. From the City Club to the Museum of Contemporary Craft to the Portland Art Museum and beyond, people are beginning to take the city’s fashion design scene into account as a potentially significant economic force. There is still a lot of confusion about what needs to happen next, but the conversation has broadened to include economists and politicians who’d previously overlooked it altogether. That is serious, and seriously exciting, progress.
2) Retail explosion. I’ve written many eulogies for this city’s independent retail, but 2014 made up for almost everything we lost during the recession. Our options these days for carefully selected items from around the world is on par with cities that are otherwise bigger and more international. Not bad, friends.
3) Michelle Lesniak. And I’m not even talking about Project Runway spinoff shows. Lesniak released the most breathtaking runway show at 2014’s FashioNXT that I’ve seen in a while. It took inspiration from photos of the Great Depression, which sounded dicey to me until I saw the absolutely exquisite blouses in plaid with lace insets on the sleeves, the Deco slits and sheer and paneled shapes on little jackets and floor-length gowns… It got me. It really got me.
- Jeff Wong
- Michelle Lesniak
4) The Imperial Collection. The story behind the Imperial Ranch’s foray into women’s ready to wear is a remarkable and noble one. And the products themselves? Oh my god. Especially the shearling. I’ve said it before, and I will again: heirloom quality.
- MICHAEL JONES
- Imperial Collection
5) Comfort and practicality. These days anything that forces me to keep a certain posture or tug at a hemline is at serious risk of winding up on the racks of the SE Hawthorne Buffalo Exchange. And I don’t know if I can bring myself to wear my highest heels ever, ever again. Anything lower than mid-rise in a jean? Nope. It’s going to be very hard to go back, so let’s not.