Wearing It Out

Wearing It Out

East Bay designers turn on the glam.

Think of the flourishing East Bay arts scene, and what comes to mind is the burgeoning Art Murmur, the biannual Open Studios, or the literary renaissance epitomized by our Three Michaels (Pollan, Lewis, Chabon). In the land of flat shoes and tie-dyed tees, though, we tend to forget that designing clothes, too, is an art. Read on to learn more about five local fashion designers who are making an arty, and sometimes quite a splashy (think pieces inspired by Chez Panisse vegetables or decorated with condom rosettes) mark on what we wear.

“Mad Men” charm: Lesley Evers
Global villager: Erica Varize
Urban uniforms: Ali Golden
Suited for sirens: Cari Borja
Sartorial spy: Ursula Dean

Jody Brettkelly wrote for British newspapers for 15 years including The Times, the Mail on Sunday and the London Evening Standard. She now blogs at the Huffington Post (UK) and for aboutlastweekend.com. Brettkelly is a Kiwi who has lived in Oakland with her husband and four children for 11 years.

Faces of the East Bay

In the Philanthropic Swim

In the Philanthropic Swim

Rockridge residents John Bliss and Kim Thompson may live far removed the gritty flats of East and West Oakland. But this philanthropic couple see themselves as one with the citizens of Oakland, particularly those who are struggling financially, and they’re leading a campaign to get their “financially blessed” peers to invest in the community like they have by funding city programs to teach kids how to swim.