design: Bonnie Heart Clyde by Emily Katz
…or a taxonomy of apparel design businesses in Portland and…
Two recent events made this note necessary. One is Narciso Rodriguez selling his label to giant middle-of-the-road Liz Claiborne, saving him from bankruptcy, the other a recent article in Oregon Business magazine. In the first instance, a smart, very talented designer whose clothes were adored by editors and sold in top stores, was broke. Well-placed fashion friends found a buyer for his label in Liz Claiborne. People cry (in equal measure) both “saved!” and “sellout!” But the overwhelming reaction is, of course he has to sell to the mother label: it’s the only way to survive…the only way to do business in fashion.
design: Sofada by Alice Dobson
In the second, the OB article about Portland-based fashion designers wanted so much to focus only on labels who have decided to go long. We applaud the designers/businesses who are thinking internationally while working locally (we want a Portland that encourages the development of creative entrepreneurialism), but theirs is not the only way to do business any more than a sale to Liz Claiborne was the only way for Narciso Rodriguez to make a living making beautiful clothes.
The Oregon Business article talks about a “post-Seaplane” era which is “all about exporting the Portland look.” The notion of post-Seaplane implies post-independent designer and the rejection of the one-man-(or one-woman) one-sewing-machine model. Let a thousand flowers grow: there is no business model that is one-size-fits-all. The number of different modi operandi employed by Portland designers is inspiring and worth noting:
- the standard wholesale model (designer designs line, has it manufactured, sells it to shops) like Anna Cohen, Bonnie Heart Clyde, and Nau
- single-designer boutique+wholesale model like Poppi Swim, Sofada, Michelle DeCourcy, Sameunderneath, and Lena Medoyeff
- the designer made-to-measure atelier of Adam Arnold
- line + boutique model of Holly Stalder and Kate Towers (Seaplane), Hazel Cox and Genevieve Dellinger (Denwave), Barbara Seipp (Phlox), Souchi by Suzi Johnson (Souchi), Debbe Hamada (Tilde), and Elizabeth Dye and Joy Cohen (The English Dept.)
- designer-sewn lines like Liza Rietz, Church & State, and Linea by Jess Beebe
- in-house manufacturers like Queen Bee Creations
- in addition to all of the lines that are just one of several income centers for the designer. The talented, sculptural designer Emily Ryan comes to mind.
What’s the point of this stab at Portland fashion designer/label taxonomy? The point is that there are many ways to crack an egg, many ways to make a living as an apparel designer/manufacturer, many different kinds of livings and lives to be made for Narciso Rodriguez, for Anna Cohen, Adam Arnold, for the folks at Nau, and for Emily Ryan. The point is that we will do well to recognize and celebrate the crazy quilt of fashion-related Portland businesses, from micro to macro, and the wealth of good things–unique design, jobs, money–they bring to the city. At the same time, we should hold up and examine the many ways there are to make a living making fashion. Lastly, we deeply appreciate (as should you) that it is a uniquely Portland environment that can nourish all of these models and more (from adidas to Alicia Carr) side-by-side.
– Lisa Radon
WHAT TO DO NOW?