Portland’s venerable purveyor of luxe goods stakes out territory to the south to open its casual luxury store Mario’s 3.10, conceived and designed by some of Portland’s finest…
We trace (approximately) to the beginning of Anna Wintour’s tenure as editor-in-chief of Vogue the moment when being too done (head-to-toe designer) was done, when balancing the luxe piece with the rugged or street piece became de rigeur for day. It was Wintour who shook things up with early covers juxtaposing say, an inexpensive faded pair of jeans with a jewel-encrusted Christian Lacroix t-shirt.
The new Mario’s 3.10 in Bridgeport Village (17031 SW 72nd Ave) is Mario’s styled in the Wintourian vision. Don Rood of Felt Hat, Mario’s creative firm notes, “This marks the first time Mario has designed a store where every item in the place—men’s and women’s—can be worn with a pair of jeans. It is truly an edit about the freedom of wearing casual luxury pieces with premium denim.” A quick look found pieces including a sporty black Prada zip-front cardigan, stunning Daryl K. black jacket with wide cuffed sleeves, or a grey texture-y, 50s box-shaped sweater by Chloe hanging with or near the many pairs of very dark jeans. The black fur scarf over the t-shirt on one mannequin was a killer look, as would be any look finished with the Christian Louboutin wood platform pumps.
The space was created by the heavy-hitters of Portland design including Randy Higgins of edo (who did Elizabeth Leach’s gallery space) and Bill Fritts of Intelligent Design (also working on the Ace Hotel project) as well as Rood and Felt Hat. Conceptually, Rood and team focused on the extraordinary editing abilities of the buying team at Mario’s. “Mario [Bisio], Lynwood [Holmberg] and the rest of the buying team have such a strong reputation as being excellent editors. We felt the experience of the store should be likened to looking through a fashion magazine. A three-dimensional walk through Mario’s point-of-view.” Lines for women include Chloe, Etro, Emilio Pucci, Loomstate, Temperley London, Rock & Republic, and Prada Linea Rossa while for men, you’ll find Armani Collezioni, Diesel, Ermenegildo Zegna, Etro, Hugo Boss, Seven for all Mankind, and Tod’s, among others.
Our only gripe? It’s not in our beloved downtown Portland.
The Mario’s 3.10 grand opening this Wednesday, September 27 from 6-9 PM features Dirty Martini and is a benefit for Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Metropolitan Portland. Tickets are $95.
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