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Photos: The low-key eclectic fashion of SF’s Art Week

Denim, small bags, pops of color, vintage, and repurposed materials were standout trends.

Three people stand against a black wall. The first wears a red jacket and jeans, the second a brown coat and black pants, and the third a cream ruffled dress.
Stylish outfits at Strike-Slip Gallery in the Mission during SF Art Week. | Source: Camille Cohen for The Standard

Parties during SF Art Week are as much for gawking at the art people wear as the art that’s for sale on gallery walls. At the chic parties thrown for buyers, ball gowns and sophistication rule the night. But San Francisco’s art scene is driven by the young, broke, and passionate. I wanted to be where the local artists were playing and celebrating. And I wanted to see what they were wearing to do it.

I found the answer on full display at Minnesota Street Project’s soiree and Strike-Slip’s industry night, where working artists showed up in styles that reflected the eclecticism San Francisco is known for. 

A person with short hair in a red jacket under a blue patterned outer layer holds a leopard print clutch and a drink. Others are in the background.
Denim, small bags, and pops of color were fashion highlights at the Minnesota Street Project party. | Source: Camille Cohen for The Standard

A block before I reached the glass walls of Strike-Slip Gallery at 14th and Guerrero, I could hear the buzz of the party. Music. Laughter. The plonk of plastic wine glasses cheers-ing. As I approached, I saw a group of women wearing matching tall boots tumble out of an Uber to join the pretty mess. 

The primarily young, artsy crowd was the kind that you know will bum you a cigarette. Stepping into the gallery, I was struck by the sheer amount of denim-on-denim-on-denim. When I asked people here what they “do,” they answered with elaborate hyphenates: Leather worker–business owner. Nail tech–social media manager. Owner of design studio–light artist. Marketing manager–vintage seller. Furniture artisan–musician. And their clothing was as multifaceted as their job titles. 

A woman stands against a textured black wall, wearing a patterned jacket, gray turtleneck, jeans, and loafers, with a joyful expression and hand extended.
Hannah, a social media manager and nail technician, matched the gold of her shoes to her dolphin belt buckle and nails. | Source: Camille Cohen for The Standard
Two people stand against a dark wall. One wears a red plaid outfit and holds a red purse, the other wears a black jacket with a long plaid skirt.
Artist Red Robinson and designer Maya Murali in skirts that highlight raw materials. | Source: Camille Cohen for The Standard
A person with light hair and glasses is smiling. They wear a dark blazer, a patterned green tie, and hold a strap over their shoulder against a dark backdrop.
Justus Jäger, a freelance designer visiting from Amsterdam, mixed striped pants with a blue jacket that allowed his green butterfly tie to be the star. | Source: Camille Cohen for The Standard
A woman in a brown fur-trimmed jacket and black skirt looks into a white bag against a dark textured wall.
Selena Yang, an artist who works with acrylic paint, wore a silk jacket and carried a very-of-the-moment Baggu purse to the Strike-Slip party. | Source: Camille Cohen for The Standard

Deconstructed office clothes paired with sweatshirts blurred the boundary between polished and disheveled. Other binaries were playfully disrupted: feminine and masculine, simple and eclectic, utilitarian and extra. I saw clothes that had been torn up just to be put back together. There were Burning Man people and their big sparkly or fur coats peppered in. I saw a dress held together with safety pins and a bag made of bottle tabs. Many were sourced from local vintage shops, while others were from local designers, and most came with a story. 

Artist Eunnuri Lee gushed over local designer Joey Ehren, who had created a cascading dress of frill and bow. “I do also model. But only for this brand,” she said as she tossed her hair over her shoulder. The vibe was significantly more casual than at Art Week’s headlining events, FOG and ICA, but the fashion was deliberate. This is the type of style that is thoughtful in the details, like the brown shoes that matched the crossbody bag and nothing else. Or the red skirt subtly matched to a red lip.

A person stands against a dark wall wearing a textured cream dress with pink ribbons and beige knee-high boots. The setting appears urban, with concrete flooring.
Eunnuri Lee, interdisciplinary research artist and occasional model, shows off her dress by local designer Joey Ehren outside Strike-Slip Gallery. | Source: Camille Cohen for The Standard
A person with a dark hair bun wears a colorful jacket featuring a stitched patch of abstract human figures with expressive faces on the back.
Aileen Louie wears a jacket adorned with embroidered panels. | Source: Camille Cohen for The Standard

The brisk night demanded at least one layer, which people used to their advantage. Leather jackets abounded — the more untraditional the color, the better. Textures were varied and multilayered: leather mixed with wool and lace and denim with linen. These outfits made me want to reach out and touch. 

Though huge bags are having their moment in the daytime, impractically small ones are still the rage for a night out. I noted many with charms (à la Jane Birkin), a trend that was propelled into the mainstream via TikTok last year. The charm-ing practice serves as a low-cost way to add personal meaning and touch to common items. 

A person in a black pinstripe outfit holds a shiny, metallic handbag made of interlinked silver tabs, against a dark textured background.
Jaime Jay, an artist and photographer, digs into her purse made of metal bottle cap pull tabs, from Vacation Vintage. | Source: Camille Cohen for The Standard
The image shows two black handbags. The left one features a furry keychain and ruffled black fabric. The right handbag has a white lion face decoration.
The bag game was strong at the Minnesota Street Project party. | Source: Camille Cohen for The Standard

When I met artist and holistic wellness practitioner Deni Slehiman between gallery rooms at Minnesota Street Project’s party, she described feeling honored to wear Mexican designer David Miguel Herrera’s earrings made of wire, depicting a human head. 

For performance artist/fashion designer Eluterio Lopez, dressing up during SF Art Week is a way to become a walking billboard. I ran into him at two parties, and both times he was dressed head to toe in his own designs. His chrome jackets and bags are painted with thick brush strokes of intentionally messy eyes and hearts. 

A person in profile with slicked-back hair and bold geometric earrings wears a gray jacket and holds a colorful woven item against a white background.
Artist Deni Slehiman shows off wire earrings by David Miguel Herrera at the Minnesota Street Project party. | Source: Camille Cohen for The Standard
Two stylish individuals at an art gallery; one wears a "World Star" jacket, and the other sports a colorful outfit with artistic patterns and chunky boots.
A graphic letterman jacket and Eluterio Lopez in clothes of his own design. | Source: Camille Cohen for The Standard

Handmade, hand-painted, or hand-picked fashion is obviously in. Mass-produced fast fashion and designer-for-status are OUT.  People want what no one else has—and honestly, so do I. Dressing for these parties was exhausting and fun. My favorite looks always include my full-length, vintage orange coat, which earned compliments from people in the “high” and “low” art scenes alike. My closet was torn apart by the end of the week. But it was worth it.

A man stands against a dark background, wearing a denim hat and vest over a patterned shirt. He has a beard and is adjusting his hat with one hand.
Artist and curator Alex Hernandez is dripping in denim. | Source: Camille Cohen for The Standard
A man smiles wearing a denim jacket and jeans adorned with colorful flower patterns. He also has an orange bandana, glasses, and dreadlocks.
Ian James, who makes leather goods for his brand of the same name, is also denim-clad. | Source: Camille Cohen for The Standard
A woman and man stand against a dark wall. She wears a leather vest and carries a shiny bag, while he is in a black sweater holding a jacket.
Jay and Marc “Marquis” Virata, a furniture maker and musician, mix textures to bring out aspects of their black outfits. | Source: Camille Cohen for The Standard