September 2012
Designer to Watch: Lina Zeineddine
This Lebanon-born shoe designer hopes to inspire women to take bold steps forward.
During her years working alongside designer Luly Yang, Lina Zeineddine, then 19, kept a personal sketchbook, doodling design ideas during spare moments. In 2011, after fashion classes at the Art Institute, business school, and two and a half years at the downtown couture house (which she left in 2009), the Lebanon-born designer rediscovered that sketchbook…
Designer to Watch: Michael Cepress
Well-known for his dapper and tailored men’s wear designs, this talent is now doing women's wear.
Michael Cepress wears many artistic hats: The Capitol Hill-based, 30-something designer is well-known for his dapper and tailored men’s wear designs, a sublime talent he juggles with costume design, teaching fashion courses at the University of Washington and curating fashion exhibitions. Now he’s adding women’s wear designer to his résumé. After a two-year design hiatus,…
Designer to Watch: Moorea Seal
Tangletown-based jewelry artist Moorea Seal first viewed art on a grand scale as an artist’s assistant to Seattle sculptor John Grade, helping to craft his large-scale installations. But in 2010, the Seattle Pacific University graduate began packing big, geometric sculptures into a petite form: jewelry. Combining her artistic background and influences from her rural England…
Madrona: Home to Superior Gift and Vintage Shopping
Even if it's out of the way, this peaceful east Seattle enclave is worthy of an afternoon jaunt.
Timeless looks you can wear to the office or on weekend outings are the stuff of (1) Juniper, a classy boutique tucked into a storefront across from the Madrona Playground on E Spring Street. Check out the cotton denim pieces from Raleigh Denim ($200), luxurious hand-loomed knits from Souchi ($250–$550) and other ethically crafted garments…
Melrose: Capitol Hill’s Quaint Shopping Corner
A city garden of stylish delights thrives along the western edge of Pike and Pine streets.
Entering the Melrose Market—a multipurpose indoor space on Melrose Avenue that houses Rain Shadow Meats, The Calf & Kid cheese shop and floral boutique Marigold and Mint—is like stepping into the beating heart of what defines Northwest refinement right now. Those who want to take a piece of it home ascend the small stairway between…
Visit Downtown Seattle’s West Edge Shopping District
The neighborhood nickname might be unfamiliar, but these shops are well known for innovative style.
Stroll south down Western Avenue below Pike Place Market; once you hit University Street, you’ll find the first gold mine, (1) Liave, stocked with carefully chosen European home décor. Owner Cornelia Veit scouts Parisian trade shows, bringing back finds like German-made lamb’s wool blankets ($150-$300) or Ahmaddy print scarves that come in asymmetrical shapes ($80-$120)….
Shopping in the International District
Enrich yourself both culturally and materially in the heart of Seattle’s Asian community.
Start at Main Street and Sixth and walk down to Jackson Street for two of the most stimulating spots in Japantown: (1) Kobo at Higo, a former Japanese variety store turned artisan gallery that spotlights Japanese and Northwest design. Its jewelry selection is particularly well curated, with elegant gold-filled wire leaf earrings by local artist…
Shopping in Fremont’s Funky ‘Downtown’
This funky strip is truly the center of the universe for vintage wear and statement accessories.
Start on Fremont Place North and Lenin (that would be the statue, not a street) and head southeast a block to embrace your saucy side at (1) Bellefleur, Jennifer Manuel Carroll’s charming lingerie boutique. Carroll is an expert at fitting and knows her merchandise thoroughly—which includes flirty panties and push-up bras ($18–$120). (Psst: Bellefleur also…
Shop Along Historic Ballard Avenue
Shop here for stylish urban wear: hipster plaid, “adorkable” patterned frocks and spunky jewelry.
Starting at the east end of the strip, at Ballard Avenue and 20th, first pop into (1) Monster Art and Clothing, a trove for quirky oddities, such as a bronze meat-cleaver necklace, spirited toe socks or a hand-printed octopus shirt. With a stock emphasizing Northwest designs (owner Tara Smith herself runs organic clothing line Revival…
Why Seattle is Still Paying for Watergate
It's the 40th anniversary of a notorious political scandal. Knute Berger shows how it hits home.
While we’re celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Seattle World’s Fair, which was hitting its peak-season stride in September 1962, another anniversary is running through my mind. It was the amazing summer of 1972, when so much of the promise of the New Frontier came crashing to the ground because of a burglary known as…
Bellingham’s Coal Play
Is the massive coal-shipping port planned for Whatcom County a blessing or a curse?
People living in Bellingham have a pretty forgiving attitude toward the trains that rumble through town. The shrill whistles, the squeal of wheels, the waits at crossings—that’s just part of life in this laid-back college town. But now something else is roaring down the tracks, and it has the town’s full attention. About 800 people…
Kathleen Flenniken Exercises Her Poetic License
Poet laureate Kathleen Flenniken is showcasing the work of countless local poets during her term.
A master’s degree in civil engineering isn’t a prerequisite for becoming Washington state poet laureate, but it does tend to make for a unique perspective. Kathleen Flenniken, who began her two-year term as poet laureate in February, lives in View Ridge, but grew up in Richland, the daughter of a chemist who spent his career…