design: Anna Cohen, Portland. photo: Pete Springer
Portland has a long history of taking things from other cities. Be it a name (that place in Maine), a form of government (Galveston, TX and Des Moines, IA) or a Michael Graves building (every other municipality duped by that purveyor of kitchenware), Portland wants in on what everyone else is doing. So we would be remiss in our duties as chroniclers and commentators if we did not voice our support for a more recent innovation from Chicago: the fashion czar.
Chicago, traditionally associated more with meatpacking and railroads than with clothing, first took steps to support a local fashion industry in 1987, with the creation of the Apparel Industry Board. The idea was that Chicago already had plenty of talent, and that the problem was keeping that talent from fleeing the city for lack of opportunity. Mayor Richard Daley the Younger continued the effort with the creation of a Fashion Advisory Council comprised of nineteen designers, retailers, and industry professionals. Heading up the council, and the main liaison between the apparel industry and the city, is the fashion czar position within the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs. The full job title is the Director of Fashion Arts and Events, and the first person to occupy the post is lawyer Melissa Turner, whom Daley appointed a year ago.
design: Jonny Shultz, Portland. photo: Pete Springer
While the goals of the czar are modest, they are the sort of common sense steps Portland could certainly benefit from. If a local fashion industry is an asset (it is, it is!), then it is a good idea to survey it, quantify it, nurture it, then promote it. The first problems to tackle are the straightforward ones of communication and infrastructure: who are all the designers? Do they source their materials and production locally? Does Portland even have any clothing factories anymore? Beyond this, Turner’s projects include getting a Chicago fashion week on the map and working through the Advisory Council to promote local designers among local merchants. More on this in a future article.
design: Elizabeth Dye, Portland. photo: Pete Springer
Past efforts to pool resources and information among this particular subset of the creative class in Portland have been nonstarters for a number of reasons. Interest, time, and money available for such a project have all waxed and waned, which is why the idea of municipal involvement only seems better and better. A czar position could serve as a focal point for the city’s garment makers and retailers in new and useful ways, not least of which would be simply facilitating interaction. But as the post would be supported by the city, questions of fees and organization would be moot; the czar would be an available resource, but one the apparel industry could use or not. The worst case scenario is that the czar manages to fill in the picture of who’s making what and where in Portland, while the best case is that a czar position could add new vitality to the industry by luring new designers, keeping existing ones, and putting Portland on any self-respecting clothes horse’s itinerary while retaining what makes the Portland apparel business interesting in the first place. So it is with enthusiasm that we commend the idea of the fashion czar to the city’s attention. It is worth the most sincere compliment that Portland has to offer: “Gimme.”
–Will Levin
WHAT TO DO NOW?