giselle here.

i spent a good part of monday with kati and penelope at the san francisco international gift fair. this was really exciting for me because it was my first time at a trade show. when kati found out that I was thinking about opening up my own store in san francisco, she graciously invited me to shadow her for a month and learn the ins and outs of the biz. our first task was fun – how could you go wrong with shopping?

first, we made a beeline for the japanese imports:

there was no shortage of adorable plush toys:

we made a special stop at the japanese gift market booth:

this was penelope’s favorite booth. they loved her so much that they gifted her a matryoshka keychain:

Penelope is wearing a Misha Lulu top and a Kate Quinn jacket

of course, we also had to look at the items from shinzi katoh and ordered tea for two sets:

our next stop was the housewares section. kati really loved this burlwood mirror from roost:

the roost display is always exceptional:

we also visited the j mendocino booth, where we placed an order for custom made vases:

stay tuned because all of these wonderful things, and more, are coming to the shop very soon!

lastly, before leaving, we couldn’t help but stop for a ride at the carousel to unwind. this is a tough job, but i think i can get used to it!

hey all!

kati kim here. this year’s spring break was a good one at doe-sf (okay, maybe for me!), as spring vacation turned into a two-week journey that involved criss-crossing the nation.

it all started with a roadtrip to new mexico with doe girl mariele and my two children, penelope and sabine.

in anticipation of our great adventure, and true to doe’s love of botanical themes, we filled the shops with succulents, plucked fresh from our favorite wholesale nursery in half moon bay:

why new mexico?

couple of reasons: new mexico is my home state. my family still lives there and i hadn’t been back in five years. the idea of traveling alone with two small children is intimidating. mariele was excited about the opportunity to collect raw materials for her jewelry making; and, lucky for me, she is great with kids. perfect!

so yeah – it happened. sabine (my youngest) finally visited new mexico, and penelope found out that my parents don’t actually live in hotels; mariele collected treasures and ideas for making jewelry.

i chronicled our adventures real-time via my iphone and personal facebook page. early on, mariele and i came to realize that, with our red hair, similar statures, and matching doe wardrobes, it’s sometimes difficult to us apart in pictures. even my parents were perplexed. this led to an awesome facebook game we named “who’s the baby mama?”

guess who’s who in the following pics:

breakfast in bed. bakersfield, california
filly, misha, and cotton caboodle. california/arizona border
prairie underground tank and zoe chicco horn necklace

we visited new mexico by way of bakersfield and barstow and passed through flagstaff. we hung our hats in winslow, arizona before finally stopping at my parents’ home in gallup, new mexico.

roadside tourist stand between winslow and gallup.
black hoodie by prairie underground.

next: collecting raw materials in gallup and bartering for finished goods in albuquerque

hey there -

welcome to part three of our february 2009 vegas blog.

the first couple of days at the project show, hosted at mandalay bay, were mostly spent gathering lookbooks and making notes on linesheets. i did very little ordering – except for the requisite prairie underground summer and early fall deliveries (one of our best-selling lines – must order in person!).

by the end of the second day, i’d amassed a serious assortment of sales materials; i’d documented enough upcoming styles to assemble fiercely dope summer and early fall collections.

by day three, i was ready to tackle pool. pool is the indie division of magic. some doe favorites represented at pool: poketo, gama-go, fluffy co and ames bros. pool is the place to discover up-and-coming clothing and accessory lines.

since i’d placed so few orders at the project show, considering it primarily a research mission, i was ready to get crackin’ at pool.

i took the monorail from paris, just adjacent to home base @ bally’s, and patted myself on the back for the money i’d saved by not hailing a cab.

i’ve visited the las vegas convention center many times. beginning in the late 90′s, when i attended ces (the consumer electronics show), through last year (when i came for the february shows with sarah), i’ve probably walked the lvcc a half dozen times.

this year was eerily different. okay, so it took me awhile to realize that nobody was there. only a few crane drivers and, like, four randoms with trade show badges. gone were the blaring guitar solos. nary an aspiring apple bottom-sporting wannabe rap video vixen in sight. was i dreaming? nah – i’d missed the show! one day too late. i’m not gonna attempt excuses. i’d “played da fool“.

deserted convention center grounds

i promptly called annie at doe, confessed my misstep, and asked for the project schedule. lucky for me – the show was still on!

since day one of the project show, i’d been fixated on the the tarina tarantino offerings. doe hasn’t carried this line since 2005. ultimately, the tarantino baubles were just too good to resist. below, a sampling of the tarina tarantino spring/summer 2009 collections:

swarovski-covered iphone compatible headphones. gimme!!!

kid robot collaboration

kid robot #2

kid robot #3

kid robot #4

from the tarina tarantino/kid robot “things that hurt” collection

pansy & rhinestone earrings

doe needed kid robot and rhinestone-encrusted floral accessories, but what totally blew my mind was tarantino’s “victorian navajo” collection.

i grew up in southern new mexico and arizona, and native american jewelry hasn’t appealed to me since i was kid. tarina’s twist on traditional southwestern jewelry killed me. killed. particularly since team doe will be road trippin’ it through the desert southwest in early april. guaranteed we’ll be blogging the heck out of these pieces as we make our way from san francisco to santa fe…

i voted “yes” on this chola head necklace. it’s gonna be perfect at coachella, also happening in april:

not to be forgotten are tarina tarantino’s “bambino” offerings. too cruel to torture the kids with pink rhinestone headphones and leave them out!

stuffed felt hairclip with rhinestones

the tarina tarantino booth was the perfect glittery finale to team doe’s week in vegas. even the kids were exhausted by the end of our five-day stay…

penelope passes out in her mischa lulu whale jumper

until next time!

penelope and sabine in mischa lulu

coming soon: sweet little things – exploring minutiae @ 1767 church street

kati again.

the main reason doe does las vegas is for the project trade show. though most of our clothing and accessory lines are designed and produced here in california, the convergence of designers at project makes the trip to vegas fully worthwhile.

seeing future season goods in-person vs ordering via electronic linesheets offers clear advantages. at the shows, i get to try goods on, feel the fabrics, and view colors in all their analog glory. since team doe can’t always travel, we tend to stick with lines we can purchase locally. trade shows allow us to order from a bunch of vendors at once, discover new lines, and re-connect with labels from the past.

here i’m pictured entering the project tradeshow @ mandalay bay, wearing a kimono tee by stewart + brown and a pair of joe’s jeans trousers in their madeleine wash. 95% chance i’m updating my facebook status:

another bonus of walking the shows is that we get to chat with the designers, many of whom we’ve been doing business with for years.

below, I’m trying on goods from the she-bible summer and fall lines, while catching up with stacy, 1/2 of the she-bible duo. the purple overall jumper reminds me of a similar style we carried in fall 2004 – each was sewn in a different corduroy or velour and had “doe” embroidered, all lower-case, at the bib. she-bible’s drawstring-hem sweatpants also made their way into our late summer line-up. i am totally feeling the fancy sweatpant thing lately…

the james perse booth was overflowing with california-made woven and jersey basics, in a huge range of colors. i was particularly taken with this open-front collared shirt – we’ll carry this style in the pictured white, as well as a chambray blue:

since doe has an all-female staff, our clothing selection caters mostly to the ladies. dudes – we haven’t forgotten about you! lucky for us, heavy rotation had a booth at the show, and i made sure to order plenty of men’s styles.

this chicken tee totally reminded me of mariele – she’s got a thing for turkeys and other feathered friends:

below – a tunic from the paul and joe sister fall line. plaid with ruffles is huge for fall…

it’s been ages since we replenished our belt selection, and the brave belt booth had tons of styles in tons of colors. i ordered 10 different styles, ranging from the below-pictured waist (i also got this in a pale pink!) and matryoushka chain-link belts to more straight-forward and practical everyday varieties. all the belts are designed and produced in the us, and each is made to order! we anticipate our first delivery in early april.

another doe favorite – 80%20. we ordered these over-the-knee boots in blue and the pictured wooden wedges in both brown and black for early fall delivery:

noticeably absent from this year’s show was the celebrity presence felt in years past. the exceptions were william rast, jt’s line, and linday lohan’s legging line. i was kinda feeling the lace leggings, but i just couldn’t….

next: pool – the show that wasn’t…

kati here. back in sf after a 5-day adventure in las vegas.

as promised, last week’s trip was fully of surprises. i brought my two kids and met up with my mom (free sitter!), as well as some old friends along the way. of course, the highlight of the trip was the fashion trade show. i’m pleased to report that the doe 2009 summer collections are now fully ordered!

before i post a preview of our summer offerings, i’m gonna show you some kid fashions – one of our specialties at doe-sf.

sabine in misha lulu top and skirt, princess hat hand-sewn by her craftiness, my mom:

more princess action, courtesy of mom; misha lulu dress from the spring 2008 collection:

vegas involves a crazy amount of walking – especially exhausting for tiny legs! here the girls enjoy a bit of relief on the moving sidewalk between paris and bally’s:

blinking lights, chiming bells and whirling numbers – slot machines seem engineered for children. penelope has been coming to vegas since she was a tiny baby and has yet to grasp why kids aren’t allowed to gamble. i don’t blame her!

penelope and sabine posing in bally’s lobby. dresses by misha lulu; accessories, babies’ own:

most of the misha lulu styles pictured above are from past seasons, and no longer available in-store. please check our current children’s selection, as we’ve recently added a bunch of new misha lulu clothing to the site!

next up:
project las vegas – good times and great clothes!

Hey Everyone –

Kati here. Here it is February 2009, and I’m only now getting around to posting the final chapter of our summer 2008 research mission/retreat blog. If you’ve been following our blog for awhile, you probably know that the doe girls went to Europe for 6 weeks this past summer. We began our adventures in Marseille, france and ended with a one-week stay in Switzerland which, imo, was the best part.

hillside in greich, switzerland

Just like the end of ytk08, the end of our trip was made far sweeter by the presence of my Mom. Running two retail boutiques (and a web shop!) while simultaneously raising two small children presents some interesting logistical challenges. Enter – grandma!

mom with sausages in Morel

Not only is my mom the sweetest grandmother imaginable, she’s also the craftiest. In other words, she makes things. Her talents never cease to amaze me. In the years since I’ve known her, I’ve seen her paint family portraits, build space chairs, make dresses for dolls and little girls, sew checkered western shirts with snaps, whittle figurines from wood, raise a garden in desert sand, author, illustrate, and bind children’s stories, make a mushroom-shaped dollhouse filled with tiny fairies (complete with porcelain place settings and miniscule copper pots!), design and sew my wedding dress – and just about everything in between!

some of mom’s recent artistic endeavors:

clay and wood mushroom project

mushroom fairy house

engraved marble garden marker

our first stop in switzerland was geneva. i was so grateful for mom’s grandmotherly presence that i gifted her this bauble:

weighted-hinge enamel clock necklace

more images from our trip:

kid time!

tram to greich

view from our balcony in haus montanara – our little homestead in greich

a neighboring cabin

homemade french onion soup for a cold alpine evening

painting with watercolors – with a little help from my mom!

Tomorrow I’m headed to the magic/project/pool/enk tradeshow mash-up in vegas. I can’t walk the floors with my kids in tow, so mom is (once again!) flying out from new mexico to the rescue. While I’m discovering new lines and writing orders for summer, she’ll be hanging out with Penelope and sabine.

Stay tuned for a sneak preview of the doe 2009 summer collection, requisite doe does vegas shenanigans, and more sweet baby pics

family portrait

Thanks mom. you are the best!

xo,
kati

hey all,

sarah reporting. freshly back from new york city, where i attended the spring 2009 designers & agents trade show.

the west coast is known for casual comfort and color, and i had never before been behind the scenes on the opposite shore. new york city exists on a near-mythical plane of fashion cool. thus, i was thrilled to have the chance to check out the nyc’s d&a show this past weekend.

i flew into jfk, where i met a friend (one who is both a dude and a babe!) and headed to brooklyn. the comparisons i hear between williamsburg and san francisco’s mission district proved true, and the local flavor was endearingly familiar. here’s a picture of an italian ice spot next to the predictably-named tony’s pizza:

saturday i took the subway to d&a, located in three different loft spaces between chelsea and the manhattan shoreline. it was definitely a different game than the west coast shows – art galleries were everywhere, and the vendors were set up in cramped, multi-story nooks of buildings. here’s an example:

new york certainly doesn’t have the sprawling convention centers of las vegas, and this was different than the smaller set-ups here in san francisco. turntablists held it down on each floor, clear plastic staircases and stainless steel doors abounded, lots of white – this wasn’t the environs i was used to. and i was surrounded by the seasoned buyers of nyc, clearly a force to be reckoned with.

despite the sophisticated change of scenery, i wasn’t feeling most of the style offerings. since this was spring, color was everywhere, as were ruffles and tie-dye. the latter two are not really my thing.

i was pleased to find tracey and tyler at the prairie underground booth. kati and i had a chance to preview the collection in san francisco just before my trip, where we both agreed that a bright yellow coat had to be added to our spring orders. i’m shown holding it below, with tracey chatting up another buyer in the background (picture taken by my babe, who was nearly denied entrance to the event on account of his scruffiness):

note my she bible shirt from last summer and emily katz skirt from spring! you can’t fire me now, kati!

i also saw other doe favorites, including st. kilda (who will soon be shipping us a huge selection of new jewelry styles!), moss mills, stewart brown (stoked about next spring’s organic and soft jersey pieces!), and long-time store staple woo.

here’s a little round-up of just-discovered goods that struck my fancy:

while not at the show, i managed to spend some serious quality time with buddies old and new. beers, werewolves, the brooklyn flea – i’m pretty sure i’m in love. here’s a shot of me and my pal at ripley’s believe it or not, doing our best wacky tourist impressions:

thanks, new york! you are a gracious host.

hey dudes, sarah here. as someone relatively new to the world of retail buying, the las vegas experience was a little overwhelming. the small shows that take place a few times a year in the bay area are nothing compared to the airplane hanger-sized venues of magic. our third day in town we tackled the medium-sized event of the three: project.

Project is the sophisticated counterpart to Pool. The overall feel is a bit more high-end; here you’ll find designer denim alongside boutique and department store ready-to-wear brands. there is some cross-over with the other events, but project definitely bridges the monster of magic with the hip kid sister of pool.

a cool club vibe permeated much of the show. nicky hilton posed in the booth for her clothing line, techno beats floated from the loud speakers, and some big-name brands had booths almost the size of a city block with walls hiding their upcoming designs. we had to check in with a psuedo-bouncer before being granted permission to part a curtain and enter joe’s jeans’ display of fall styles.

we were able to line up goods from some of our favorite brands, including she-bible, kris nations, and park vogal. below i am at the porridge booth with one of kati’s favorite pieces from the show.

last fall’s 80/20 boots sold out in-store before they could even make it onto our website. they will be returning this year in new colors, including a caramel knee-high that will be perfect with mini dresses and over skinny jeans. kati, more adventurous than me, was flipping out over the futuristic black canvas and patent taupe booties. we hung out with ce ce, the designer, and checked out the way her designs are evolving.

we also discovered brands that will be new to the store including lily + jae and loomstate. organic cotton in flattering cuts is loomstate’s hallmark. all of us at doe are going to have a hard time not wanting to keep pieces for ourselves! skinny jeans, fancy raincoats, shirt dresses, and grey cords – all organic!

feeling like we had completed our goals, we exited the convention center to discover something entirely unexpected: snoop dogg parked in a black suv. kati managed to shake hands with the d-o-double-g before he drove off into the setting las vegas sun and we got in the taxi queue. kati refused to shake hands with the people we met in line, and her hand glowed from the encounter (ok, maybe it was the camera flash, but work with me):

(excuse the lag time blame it on the sf superflu of Winter ’08.)

Pool is the cool younger sibling of magic. the show consists primarily of streetwear by independent designers. Imo, pool is the most fun tradeshow to walk, and it’s certainly the most relevant to our lower-haight shop.

This is the place to find graphic t’s, hand-crafted jewelry, and the newest styles by up-and-coming designers. Sarah and I viewed the summer and fall goods for store favorites, including: prairie underground, loyal army, heavy rotation, and poketo. We also picked up a few new lines, including: Gama-go, dear creatures, and early jewelry.

Sarah bought me these earrings from the early jewelry sample sale, which I’ve worn nearly every day since. they’re made from polished quartz and silver. this style will be in-store and online soon. Give us a heads-up if you want to reserve a pair!

As far as trends go, we saw a lot of tunics, corduroy, and fall colors in a 70′s palette. In fact, 70′s seemed to reveal itself as a theme for our fall ’08 collection early on. But, in a very doe way: classic shapes, soft and wearable fabrics, and sweetness. Some top pics: brown corduroy jacket and pointy-collar tunic by dear creatures. Lots of Navy and burnt orange. Dainty florals. Sailor styling.

Grey is still popular, but not blowing up like over the past few seasons. We also saw a more bluish, less flat grey.

Since the male shoppers @ doe generally shun our attempts to bring them fancy basics, we were on a mission for printed t’s. You’d think with upper playground, lower haters and viki’s street shop in the neighborhood that the guys would be satisfied, but they still just want their printed t’s. So, we try to keep our selection of prints fresh. We loved the yeti-themed shirts by sf locals gamma-go (and I was stoked to find out I’d been wrong all this time about being on their “do not sell” list); they also had some dope baby and women’s stuff. Check back for a gama-go brand page soon!

Other pool highlights: fake naked fur suit vs. pooh ping-pong, sparks happy hour (we just missed it but were offered consolation beers at the fake naked booth), nonstop electronic music (though sarah would’ve omitted the rave).

Yes, folks, this was a fun show. Almost all the vendors we met with commented on what a great time we were having. Yeah who wouldn’t like looking at adorable stuff to dance music (sarah excluded from the last part). A job well done!

Coming soon – part 3 of our vegas adventures: project!

Kati here. Live from Las Vegas. Sarah (newly minted VP of Operations for doe and CSA) and I have spent the last week walking the fashion trade shows in Sin City.

It’s been 3 years since I last came to Vegas to scout out new fine goods. Back then, Pool was hosted at Mandalay Bay; Project was a scarcely-promoted offshoot showcasing primarily denim lines and men’s street wear. Times have changed. The monster known as Magic has grown, and now all three trade shows are owned by the same company. Yet they each retain their own flavor.

Magic is kind of like Vegas itself – gaudy, confusing, and meant for the masses. The show occupies the Las Vegas Convention Center and it helps to carry a map.

When we first rolled up in our show-sponsored bus, we were greeted by a fleet of pimped-out cars, the marketing tool of choice for hip hop brands.

The show contains an overwhelming mix of goods, broken down by category: men’s, women’s, junior’s, children’s, plus sizes, housewares & Magic’s got it all. The lines shown are primarily corporate entities, and the most everything shown is mass-produced. This is where the mall store buyers shop. This is where the department stores in Middle America find the latest and greatest in ready-to-wear.

Doe is a tiny store and, For Sarah and I, the overall feel was confusion. The best part of Magic was the free magazines – nearly every imaginable title, stacked high for the grabby hands of the hordes of people come to buy and sell. Other than the outrageous selection of free magazines, we didn’t find much to love about Vegas’ largest fashion trade show. After a cafeteria-style lunch at a centrally-located convention center restaurant, we resumed our quest to find Pool, also located at the LVCC.

We finally broke down and asked one of the hundreds of official show reps for directions. We were pointed to the back of a central corridor and entered a hallway with white carpeting, colorful mod furniture, and the faint sound of electronic music in the background. As we entered the Pool hall, the music grew louder and our first friendly encounter was with the sweet and hilarious ladies of 31 Corn Lane. Yes, we’d found our peeps.

Check back soon for more on our Pool findings…