We recently had the chance to talk with Jessica Hughes, Bastille’s social media coordinator to discuss Salt Lake City fashion, curatorial inspiration and handcrafted goods.

BASTILLE
79 S Rio Grande Street, Salt Lake City, UT
6191 S State Street, Murray, UT
66 Kearny Street, San Francisco, CA
www.ilovebastille.com / @ilovebastille

How would you describe a typical Bastille customer?

Jessica Hughes: There isn’t a typical Bastille customer; we try to offer something for every type of client.
There are customers that come into Bastille looking for a specific item or brand and we are able to provide those pieces for them. Then there are those who have never shopped with us, who stumble upon our store, and it’s exciting to educate those customers on the brands we carry.

How do you decide what brands to carry?

JH: It has to make sense for the esthetic of our store but we strive to find new and exciting pieces for each specific season.  It is our goal to provide great fashion for our clients with brands of varying price points. Our main goal is to provide something for everyone.

Would you consider Salt Lake City / San Francisco to be fashionable cities?

JH: We would consider Salt Lake City to be fashionable and we are surprised everyday by not only by the people wandering the streets of the city but that come into our shop. I think with Salt Lake being a smaller city, it’s easy to see those who are fashionable and it’s easy to spot our customers a lot of the time. It’s great that we get to grow with city by bringing in designers/brands that some have never seen before and to see those people out and about in those clothes is rewarding.

How is your shop involved in the community?

JH: Our shop started in Salt Lake City and we’ve tried to involve ourselves in forms of the community in which we can make a difference. Recently we specifically made candles in which all the proceeds went to Equality Utah, the Bastille X PRIDE candle. The Bastille X PRIDE candle was also sold at the San Francisco location and the proceeds went to Equality California.

What do handcrafted or locally made brands bring to your store?  

JH: Bringing in locally made/designed brands gives our store an incredible creative advantage. We just recently started our second season of our brand OTTERS, locally designed and made in the USA. It’s our first season for OTTERS for Women and our second for Men. It’s really incredible to be able to offer a print or a silhouette exclusive to Bastille and one that has been created by our own colleagues. Down to the hand sewn real shell buttons on our oxfords, every detail is considered. As well as some of the other brands we carry that are made in the USA, we appreciate great craftsmanship and design esthetic.

View his complete portfolio at victorcastanera.com

1. What sparked your initial interest in design?

VICTOR CASTANERA: Design is the key to change the world in all senses and they way to make real all our aesthetic and social ideas. A designer can expand a philosophy through himself.

2. What was the inspiration behind Areniscos?

VC: I wanted to make a reflection about the relationship between the human being and his environment. I think it’s important to keep the essence of being human in order to have a good relationship with our environment, so I designed a production process where the user and nature work together in a natural atmosphere. Also, the beach is one of my most inspirational points as a Mediterranean citizen.

3. What are the steps of the process?

VC: First, you throw the water on the sand and choose all the holes you like and want to “fossilize.” Next, prepare the resin and fill it over the holes, making different layers depending on the size to make it strong. Then cut the edges before the resin catalyzes to get a circular shape. Finally, take the bowl out of the mold to varnish and polish.

areniscos from Victor Castanera on Vimeo.

4. You describe Areniscos as a “decision of nature.” Could you elaborate on that?

VC: A natural physical phenomenon between two natural elements creates a unique shape that is going to be different every time, even with human help. So it’s nature who ultimately decides the final shape of the bowl.

5. Your portfolio boasts many mediums. What are the major differences when working with natural materials versus synthetic?

VC: It all depends on the way you use it. Areniscos is more an experimental and conceptual process so you enjoy the production process more. Natural materials can transmit a sensibility that synthetic cannot.

6. What advice would you offer aspiring designers?

VC: To believe always in what you like and what you feel to find your personal style. Understand every project as unique, looking for a clear and simple but strong personality.

Although the shop only opened a couple years ago, Welcome Stranger delivers a beautifully curated mix of high fashion and street style. We chatted a bit with store manager Justin Hager about the shop, the city, and the style that influences each.

WELCOME STRANGER
460 Gough St.
San Francisco, CA 94102
www.welcomestranger.com

1. Describe a typical customer.

JUSTIN HAGER: Our customer base is extremely diverse. We offer such a wide product line at the store that we draw a crowd of all ages and interests. We typically cater to the more Americana work-wear-minded man, who is also into counter culture sports (i.e. skateboarding, surfing) and mixes up his wardrobe with vintage inspired pieces. We also stock a wide range of accessories and grooming products. There is something for everyone here.

2. How do you decide what brands to carry?

JH: We are very fortunate to work with a team of buyers who keep the store stocked with great brands and products. Our goal is to bring in brands we think will mix well together and keep the store fresh, and moving forward. We try to achieve this by really listening to our customers wants and needs, as well as researching what new and interesting products are available to us. We want to make sure we provide the best experience possible for our customers.

3. Would you consider San Francisco to be fashion-forward?

JH: We live in such a creative city, everyone dresses themselves in a very functional way because of the weather but this still allows for personal quirks and style choices to come through.  San Francisco is the hub of the tech industry, everyone wants to dress well and look professional, but still maintain a relaxed California vibe. I think San Francisco gets a bad wrap for being too casual, and I  like to think we are changing that by offering pieces that are very interesting and functional with a professional and high end twist.

4. How is your shop involved in the community?

JH: To start, we have our own in house line (Welcome Stranger) that is designed and manufactured in the San Francisco Bay Area. Spring ’13 will be our fourth season so we are super excited! We also stock local brands, like Juniper Ridge and Goorin Bros. We host pop up shops and trunk shows in the store on a regular basis that help bring foot traffic to the neighborhood and expose new brands to the city.

5. What do handcrafted brands bring to your store?

JH: Handcrafted goods bring an edge that not every brand can offer.  There is nothing like purchasing a hand crafted quality good, especially from a line like Shwood with an interesting back story and a specific product line. We’re personally way into the idea of using Carl Zeiss lenses in sunglasses too.

See more of Matt Pierce’s handmade goods at woodandfaulk.com

COMMON PEOPLE
Emilio Castelar 149
Col. Polanco
11560 Mexico City
commonpeople.com.mx

Describe a typical Common People customer:

Our typical customer shops with his third eye open.

How do you decide what brands to carry?

We’re always seeking for products that speak for themselves. We look for innovation, quality, design and uniqueness. We try to promote emerging brands as well as have a taste of the most trend-setting brands around the world. We look for a variety of prices so everybody can find something they can buy in Common People and take not only a product, but the story behind it too.

Would you consider Mexico City to be fashion-forward?

We believe that México is at the turning point of becoming a fashion forward city. We have incredible national brands and talent that are beginning to be known worldwide and an incredible artisanal background of handmade products that are being incorporated into the fashion industry.

How is Common People involved in the community?

We have a beautiful selection of fair-trade products made in different communities around the country and by putting them in the store, we take them out of their context of being a souvenir and make it possible for them to become a fashion accessory or decoration item for your house. We try to involve and promote as many green brands as possible, anything that helps the environment or incorporates recycling in their manufacturing.

What do handcrafted brands bring to your shop?

Uniqueness, consciousness in the clients, the beauty of remembering how in this globalized world you can still find and acquire a handcrafted product.

LIZARD LOUNGE
1323 NW Irving St.
Portland, OR 97209
www.lizardloungepdx.com

Describe a typical Lizard Lounge customer.

BOB DAVIS: “It’s pretty diverse, but it’s kind of like Portland itself. There’s an interesting mix of creative professionals. Wieden + Kennedy is just a little ways down [the street] so we get a crowd from there. We get a lot of industry people in here from Nike, Adidas, Columbia, all the apparel and footwear industries. They use us as sort of a test-case in retail spaces, so we get a lot of retail divisions and product development people in here looking at what we do and how we do it. And then we just get the average consumer in Portland which tends to be 25-40 active, creative-type people.”

How do you decide what brands to carry?

BD: “A lot of it is my own research and instinct as to what the trends are and how I want to interpret those trends in the store. For example, in the last 5 years there’s been a trend towards more of a heritage workwear look, and that in Portland has been the natural way to dress but the rest of the country has followed. So I targeted companies like Pendleton and Carhartt who exhibit that look and went after them to put together the mix in here. A lot of it’s also just from following blogs to get a sense of what’s going on.”

Would you consider Portland to be fashion-forward?

BD: “It depends on how it’s defined. Today I would say the answer is yes, but we do it in such a way that we don’t really try to be fashion-forward. When I spend time in New York and L.A. there’s a lot of effort that’s put into how you dress because in those big cities it defines you. So everyone’s looking at everyone else to see what they’ve got on and people put a lot of time and energy behind it. In Portland, people are much less concerned with being judged for how they look, and dress so it’s comfortable  and suitable and works in the environment. Right now, it’s fashionable to look like us.”

How is Lizard Lounge involved in the community?

BD: “We try to get really involved as much as we can in the community not only because it is the right thing to do but it’s also good PR. We’ve been doing an event every First Thursday for 5 years. We bring in a live band, free beer, and an art exhibit that changes every month and have a charity that shows up and they get a percentage of the proceeds. We try to give back in everything we do. It’s just good business to be a part of the community.

What about local brands?

BD: “We try to carry brands that are local as much as possible. Craft, artisan brands like Tanner Goods and Harding & Wilson. With Shwood, not only was it a very interesting product, but they were local guys making it craft in a small place somewhere so it was really natural for us. We try to do that with any brand we can find that’s more local.”

You’re most recognizable for your text & typography prints. What initially drew you to this type of design?

Using words is a very direct way of communicating. I love the simplicity of a short truthful phrase. You can reach people very quickly with a few carefully chosen words. Less really is more. It’s hard to make work that looks simple, you have to leave out a lot of stuff. When it works it’s very exciting. I make my prints using traditional woodblock techniques, I think that is what give sit it’s unique warm feel. You can see that it’s been produced mechanically, by hand. It gives the work a warmth and humanity that people respond to.

You’ve held many lectures and workshops around the world. Is community important to you? How does it influence your work?

I like people and love meeting new friends. Communication is so easy now, we can keep in contact with a much wider group of friends and acquaintances than ever before. People are generally the same wherever you go. We all want the same basic things, to be happy, to have a nice life. I’m conscious of the messages that I put out in to the world, my aim is to promote a thoughtful and positive approach, there’s enough bad stuff out there and I don’t want to add to it. I’d rather fight it with positive actions!

Do you have a body of work you’re most proud of? 

In 2010 we printed a poster using oil spilled in the Gulf of Mexico. The poster simply read ‘OIL & WATER DO NOT MIX’ – it was a simple statement, because of the way it was produced you could see that it was making a big statement. The poster became very popular, people responded to the idea, the way it was produced and what it said. Sometimes it’s the simplest ideas that have most effect.

At what point did you recognize your success?

I had a show in London 2009, lots of people came to the opening, there was a queue to get in! That’s when I felt that people had discovered me. I’m in the position now where I can pick and choose the projects I work on. I’m very lucky to have such freedom, it took a long time to get here, but definitely worth it.

Much of your work is highly optimistic. Is this reflective of your personal attitude?

Yes it is, I’m generally chirpy and upbeat, I’m happy with who I am and feel fortunate to be able to live my life the way I do.

What’s the most important piece of advice you could offer aspiring designers? 

Make work that you have a connection to, make work that you care about and don’t just do it for the money, that will never make you happy!