Making Fashion Local
By Catherine Berlin
Photos by KC Kratt
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On her: Nanette Lapore silk tie blouse and 7 for All Mankind jeans, from Tony Walker & Co.;
Nina Dolls shoes from Firebrand. On him: James Pearse cotton shirt and Diesel Industry jeans, from Tony Walker & Co.; shoes by Firebrand. All photography taken on location at the Mansion on Delaware Avenue. |
Vogue dares us to find the famous architect in each new design trend. The Sundance Channel advises how to dress green. The New York Times provides a primer in intellectual property law, explaining how cut and design can’t be copyright protected, while the New Yorker debates whether knockoffs ultimately prove financially healthy for couture. Then there is the issue of a top designer’s brand dilution: creating a low-rent line for Target or Kohl’s to supplement what the fashion leader already earns at Barneys and Ron Herman. Is it a sound business plan, many wonder, or a concept that too greatly threatens the loyalty of the high-end customers?
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Above: On her: Cole-Haan cashmere with beaver collar and Agave Premium Denim jean, both from Napoli’s Per La Moda; shirt from Esprit, Fashion Outlets of Niagara Falls. On him: Cole-Haan cashmere with shearling zip-out collar, Hugo Boss turtleneck sweater, and Bruno Magli demi-boot, all from Napoli’s. Below: On her: dress from Olsen Collection Outlet, Fashion Outlets of Niagara Falls. On him: Ted Baker pants, Theory shirt, and front zip sweater, all from Ultimate Men’s Shop. Shoes by Gola from Firebrand.
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The industry has also started to develop a pair of wings. We no longer have to wait a year or seven for a trend to make it to the Lake Coast. If you want a high-waisted, wide-legged jean, head to the basement at LU Modern Classic. If you’ve happened into Tony Walker’s new menswear shop, then you know that North Face just launched a city coat collection and TW is one of the few places in the country to carry it. If Kenneth Cole clothing is what you’re after, forget the hassle of Bloor Street.
Head to Napoli’s instead (even though
driving Transit Road in East Amherst
any time between 5 a.m. and 11 p.m.
certainly feels like the infamous Gardiner
Expressway at rush hour).
“Have you been to the Galleria lately?” I overheard one boutique saleswoman ask another. “It’s not the same ol’ Galleria,” she begrudgingly acknowledged. She’s right. It’s not. The mall has been expanded and filled by national chain shops like Coach, Bebe, and Urban Outfitters. The anchor stores haven’t missed a competitive beat, either, by bringing in fresh lines. Suddenly not everything we see in the Vogue book requires a telephone order to Bloomingdales and crossed fingers that what arrives actually fits.
The concept of style is not the equivalent of luxury lines and pretense; i.e., not everyone with more money than God has style. We all know someone who can do amazing things with off-the-rack from H&M and T.J. Maxx. Heck, each one of us has a bargain glory story of our own. That’s because style happens when you find a piece that speaks to you, and you make it your own. Focus and time—with or without a trust fund—is what style requires. And now, no matter what our own style items may be, we have so much more of an opportunity to find pieces of them here.
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On model Paige Habermehl: Viviana G
for Petis Pois dress, from LU Modern Classics; Jhung-Yuro shoe from Firebrand. On model Ben Elliott: MERC London suit, from LU Modern Classics; shirt by Brown Sound, from Stache. |
For example, Swedish designer Filippa Knutsson, of Filippa K fame, is known to wear plain outfits, using vibrant flats and sneakers as her personal pop device. She loves shoes and uses them to define her look. Firebrand, a new shop in the Elmwood Village, offers exactly the kind of shoe that refuses to be just an accessory, a shoe bold or complicated enough to be the atmosphere. If soft sweaters are what motivate you to get dressed in the morning, alpaca pieces from Peru can be found at Malabar in Orchard Park. Does your guy want to go organic but still keep his edge? Stache, on Elmwood, carries a Loomstate’s black button-fly jean of organic cotton that is suitable for center stage. Lee Lee in Williamsville is a gold mine, whether your true passion is in finding the perfect garment or accessorizing what you already have. After watching one too many red carpet shows, I asked a friend at a party, “Who are you wearing,” thinking the sweater looked part Ralph Lauren tailored, part Chanel feminine. “Oh, it’s something I got from Presence,” she told me, referring to another EV boutique.
Then there is the call to architecture. When Dior shifted to color block and a metallic patina this season, you could see the Frank Gehry movement and flow. Alexander McQueen fixates on angles and pattern with as much energy as what is evidenced in the Rem Koolhaas TVCC Building in Beijing. The owners at Anna Grace, a shop in the EV, picked up on this trend and began carrying Kelly Lane, who this season features color block with a subtle accent print that suggests a series of Tom Dixon bubble lamps set in a minimalist play on lines and angles that brings Mexican architect Luis Barragán to mind. That’s a lot to speak of in a dress, but that’s also why they seem more like art than ready-wear. The dresses are avant garde enough to succeed at a convention gathering in Singapore, where modern architecture controls every vista, yet equally suitable to work the office or a dinner at Tempo or Trattoria Aroma.
Couture has matured. Fashion has moved past that infernal but, alas, still relevant question of “Does this make me look fat?” The topic raises interest within the legal, business, and technology communities because, quite simply, fashion matters. It is an economic driver that supports millions of people from Malaysia to Madison Avenue, and how it works is now more than ever under the microscope. From a “what about me” perspective, way better is the fact that we here can reap the benefits. The threat of internet sales replacing brick and mortar businesses, the prevalence of more sophisticated channels of distribution, a strong local appreciation of art and design, and an abundance of savvy consumers are factors that have made every regional player step up his or her game and given rise to a solid supply of style sources.
But don’t take my word for it. Go explore.
Catherine Berlin is a writer, photographer, and lawyer, raising children and a husband in Buffalo. Growing up around the Great Lakes, she has also spent time in California and Arizona, and currently has a second home in Sweden.
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