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Read the article. American Apparel has gone down in production for their own stores because their wholesale accounts are up and, after having to fire around 1500 employees who couldn’t provide legal documentation for being authorized to work in the United States, American Apparel really hurt their production and turn around time.

To me the need  for  Made in America is still highly sought after for retailers and other wholesalers.  Do you think the American Market is spoiled over low pricing that American Apparel felt the need to hire illegally to keep their costs down?

Research in many work related fields needs to be seriously pursued for their hiring process. But, how are customers going to deal if prices go up because companies are actually having to pay living wages? Can American Apparel not afford to pay people higher wages or is it that no one wants to do the work? In a time of recession wouldn’t people want to jump at the chance to have a job opportunity, or does it not pay the bills?

What is your solution for the current lack of production in America? What should we start to do? How will that affect people’s buying habits?

I almost hate to spread the word about this site but was in awe of how it works. Even though it isn’t local designers and earth friendly per-say I am amazed at how shopping online is changing with new technology.

A friend of mine sent me a link to sign up for Shop It To Me  because I am interested, as most woman are, in clothes, shoes, and accessories. The site  shocked me, in a good way, and also scared me at what I am up against. Shop it to Me is an online site for showing you deals at designer websites in your size.

The site itself allows you to sign up for a weekly, bi-weekly, daily reminder on the day of the week you want it. It also let’s you pick from a list of popular designers from a 3 column list, what you want as far as if you are a man/woman or teen (have to be older than 13) as well as what size you are in tops, bottoms, shoes and intimates. From this list they are able to send you a list of what is on sale from those sites in your size. Brands included are North Face, bebe, BCBG, Steve Madden, 7 for all Mankind, etc.

After signing up you have the option of reffering friends from your email – google included. I personally skipped the referencing 10 friends but if you do, they send you a $10 discount to a few other stores like Starbucks, Jamba Juice or to donate to Avon Walk for Cancer.

I got my first email and looked up the “How it Works” section just to be sure.  It sounds almost too good to be true but when you place a sale it goes to the direct site of the item you are wanting. For example, you want a pair of Ugg boots, it sends you to the Ugg site to make the purchase of the item on sale.

I am praising the person who designed the technology for this to work. What will online shopping look like in the future?

Have a look for yourself.

http://shopittome.com/

We here at SF Gallery 143 want to thank all of our supporters and enthusiasts for helping us grow in 2009 and following us over to North Beach for our collaboration with Local Patron.

www.sfgallery143.com

Don’t miss our last week of being open at our location and last chance sale. We are having a store wide sale for our full last week and  Closing Party January 10th.

*Closing Party Featuring DJ from Hiest, Dominique, and Brian Riate. Pastry Chef, Jennifer Riate, from acclaimed restaurant EOS will be featuring some of her favorite desserts for you to sample. 6pm-9pm

Where: 1418 Grant Street

When: January 2nd – January 10th

Hours: Monday – Wednesday 2pm-8pm Thursday -Sunday 12pm -8pm

What: Store wide Sale 10%-2o% from January 2nd – January 10th

May the new year bring you joy and happiness!

Over the past several years, we have operated seasonal shops in various locations around town selling locally created art, craft and design products. This year, we are coming together to open our best shop ever! SFGallery143 is merging with Local Patron to bring you the best Holiday Store yet.

Where: 1418 Grant Street @ Green

When: November18th 2009 – January 10th 2010

Hours: Monday – Saturday 11am-10pm; Sunday 11am-6pm

Events : …so far

November 20th:Opening Party Featuring DJ’ Danger Deluxxe, treats and drinks. 6pm-9pm 10% Sale

December 10th: Neighborhood Merchant Crawl 5pm-10pm we will be featuring treats from a local chocolatier.

December 18th: Nest Fundraiser, 10% of sales go to help this Non-Profit Organization. Nest helps woman get out of poverty by providing micro-loans to create their own small businesses and to become self-sufficient.

January 10th: Closing Party Featuring DJ from Hiest Dominique and Bryan Riate. Pastry Chef, Jennifer Riate, from acclaimed restaurant EOS will be featuring some of her favorite desserts for you to sample. 6pm-9pm 10% sale.

Check out one of San Francisco’s hottest designers has in store for you at SFGallery143.com. She has won battles through SF Fashion Feud, rocked numerous runways. We still remember LOVE SICK with all that scantly laced lingerie. Daryl Hannah has even had some one-on-one private lessons on sewing with Alexandria. Did we mention she has her own camp couture for girls?

Alexandria von Bromssen is featuring some of her more classic pieces for us online check it out! She will also be featuring more designs not seen online for our Holiday store in North Beach. Alexandria sews everything herself and is now doing a small production run of each item (maybe 5 are available of each) so be sure to come to the Holiday Store before her unique items are gone forever.

When does she have time to sleep??? psst…I hear it’s 4am these days. : )
Model: Kara Krauss featured in Alexandria’s Gold Cocktail Dress

As we are closing into our last week of events of the June Store, we are happy to let you know of 2 more events we are having. June 19th, this Friday, come by from 6pm-9pm to see Beth from Sweet Can Productions perform her amazing balancing act with objects.

Our events are Free and open to the public, so come on by with friends and enjoy drinks, appetizers and a show! 

10% of proceeds go to support Sweet Can Productions in their future endeavours with wonderful nights of acrobatics, juggling, trapeze, music, dance, and theater! Learn more about what their up to, join the email list and see how amazingly talented these individuals are.

JUNE 21st is our Last Day Open! Come by before we close until December. We have even added more items to the store to keep things lively and new. So even if you came by last week we still have more goodies for you to see.  Closing night we will have DJ’s Danger Deluxxe and Joey Mousepad playing great beats for you to enjoy while shopping the store, meeting the local individuals that make the store happen! Most important, we will have 10% off most everything in the store!

Store Hours: Wednesday – Friday 3-7pm (Friday open ’til 9pm for Sweet Can Productions)

Saturday: 11am-6pm

Sunday 11am-6pm (with closing party until 9pm with DJ’s Danger Deluxxe and Friends)

Come by this Friday, June 12th from 6-9pm to support Liss Fain Dance Company. Meet the dancers and the director in an intimate setting and watch video of their work. Bring friends and enjoy drinks, appetizers and fun music while shopping from over 20 of the top SF local designers and artists in the area! Meet some the designers and get tips on how to update your closet and alter or wear clothing in multiple ways!

Remember 10% of purchases go to support Liss Fain. So have fun, meet some great people and learn what this city has to offer!!

To see more about Liss Fain’s Works go to their site at Liss Fain Dance.

Location: 143 Fillmore Street (cross street Waller)

Come join us for our June Temporary Store Opening. See what new artists and designers we have selected to participate this Summer. Check out what Dance Companies we’re holding benefits for in our space.

10% of purchase go to support the featured company!

Come mingle with the Designers and Artists, drink Sangria and support local DIY (Do It Yourself) Artists.

Where: Located at 143 Fillmore Street (cross street Waller).

When: Store Hours are Tuesday – Friday 3pm-7pm Saturday/Sunday 11am-6pm with events following.

If unable to attend check out our new line of products by Miranda Caroligne and Daka Bag on the website.

Be Sure to stay tuned for the next 2 weeks of events. To find out more about the June Store and to click to the featured artists websites, click on the page listed on the right titled ” June Temporary Store“.

Next week June 12th Liss Fain Dance Company Benefit 6pm-9pm and June 19th Sweet Can Productions Benefit.

Subscribe to our blog and stay in touch with news and events that matter most by hitting subscribe by email!

Shop New Products! Click OUR WEBSITE.

Check out our Page located on the right to check out our list of events under June Temporary Store and to link over to the listed designers & company webpages.

So many fashion events in the city. Why do people attend such events? Apparently some people use it to gain inspiration from other’s ideas.

The de Young Museum has done an event called Discarded to Divine in early April that turns in donated clothing that is stained or torn from St. Vincent de Paul Society and has professional clothing designers turn them into something fantastic. Their donations doubled in 2007 when they first did the event.

From this exposure a friend Miranda Caroligne was emailed from Anthropologie. The woman stated that she loved her clothing and wanted to schedule an ”inspirational meeting” with her creative team.  Someone starting out might find this flattering, but it is also insulting. Think about what she is offering. A free meeting to get ideas from a local artist to use for their mass productions. I can see how this would be flattering to a student just graduating and trying to make it in the retail/design world but, there is no offer that their work would be recognized.

The woman did not offer to pay her for the ideas, or offer Miranda a job. Nor, did she schedule an inspirational meeting with their team that discusses what makes each one of them inspired vs. finding it from a local designer. I understand it can be difficult to find inspiration within themselves but I do not believe it is okay to have a meeting with their creative team to “borrow” ideas from a local designer without giving her any credit.

This isn’t the first time I have heard of Anthropologie trying to copy other smaller designers’ work. So here is a cheers to Miranda for having such awesome ideas and refusing politely. 

To see work by Miranda click link. It is on page 15 on the flickr photos.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/discardedtodivine/page15